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全体 (quán tǐ) — all members; the entire group

Definition

全体 refers to every member of a group (people, as in 全体成员/全体员工). It is narrower than 全部, which covers all of any category; 整体 means the whole as a unified entity, not the individuals.

noun
all membersthe entire group
Easily confused

Examples

  • 全体。
    Wǒ men quán tǐ dōu tóng yì zhè ge jì huà.
    All of us agree with this plan.
  • 全体。
    quán tǐ Chéng yuán bì xū cān jiā huì yì.
    All members must attend the meeting.
  • 全体。
    Qǐng quán tǐ zhù yì ān quán.
    Please pay attention to safety, everyone.

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.

全quánwhole
体tǐbody/group

全 means 'whole' and 体 means 'body/group', so it refers to every member as one body.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape puts 入 together with 玉 to show a whole piece of jade, so it means complete or whole.

Open 全 →

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 體; 体 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
骨骨gǔbone
Sound part声符shēngfú
豊
豊lǐ體tǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 體 pairs 骨 (bone) with 豊 as a sound part; this note is about 體, not about the parts of 体.

Open 体 →
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