总局 (zǒng jú) — head office, central bureau, headquarters | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A 总局 is the top-level administrative bureau, paired with lower-tier 分局 ('branch bureau'). It is the central head office of a government or national system, not a private company's headquarters.

noun

head officecentral bureauheadquarters

Measure word · 个

Examples

总局。
Guó jiā tǐ yù zǒng jú fù zé guǎn lǐ quán guó tǐ yù shì yè.
The General Administration of Sport of China is responsible for managing the national sports industry.
总局。
Tā diào dào shěng zǒng jú gōng zuò yǐ jīng sān nián le.
He was transferred to the provincial head office and has been working there for three years.
总局。
Shì zǒng jú yāo qiú gè fēn jú jiā qiáng ān quán guǎn lǐ.
The municipal headquarters required all sub-bureaus to strengthen safety management.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

总zǒngoverall

局júbureau

总 gives the sense of overall or central, while 局 is a bureau.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 總; 总 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糸糸mìrope

Sound part声符shēngfú

悤

悤cōng總zǒng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 總 has 糸, a rope, and 悤 as a sound part; the rope part is for binding together. This account is for 總, not for 总.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

句

句jù局jú

Same sound today

The shape of 局 pairs 尸, a meaning part, with 句, a sound part.

Appears in

Groups & Organizations Government & Politics

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