总理 (zǒng lǐ) — premier; prime minister | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Premier or prime minister — the head of a national government. Contrast with 主席, who is typically the head of state or party chair; 总理 leads the cabinet and administration.

noun

premierprime minister

Measure word · 个, 位, 名

Examples

总理。
Zhè wèi zǒng lǐ zhèng zài huì jiàn wài guó jì zhě.
This premier is meeting with foreign journalists.
总理。
Zhè ge zǒng lǐ zuó tiān xuān bù le xīn de zhèng cè.
This premier announced new policies yesterday.
总理。
Yì míng zǒng lǐ chū xí guó jì huì yì.
A premier attended the international conference.

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

理lǐmanage

总 means overall, and 理 means to manage.

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

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

里

里lǐ理lǐ

Same sound today

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Government & Politics Professions & Jobs

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