总经理 (zǒng jīng lǐ) — general manager; president (of a company)

Definition

noun
general managerpresident (of a company)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 总经理。
    zǒng jīng lǐ Zài huì yì shàng xuān bù le xià jì dù de jì huà.
    The general manager announced next quarter's plan at the meeting.
  • 总经理。
    Wǒ men gōng sī de zǒng jīng lǐ shì yí wèi hěn yǒu jīng yàn de rén.
    The general manager of our company is a very experienced person.
  • 总经理，。
    zǒng jīng lǐ Jué dìng kuò dà yè wù, kāi tuò hǎi wài shì chǎng.
    The general manager decided to expand the business and explore overseas markets.

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zǒnggeneral
经理manager
经jīngmanage理lǐhandle
联合Side by side

总 “general” with 经理 “manager” gives the chief manager of a company.

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.

Open 总 →

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 經; 经 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mìsilk; thread
Sound part声符shēngfú
巠
巠jīng經jīng
Same sound today

The traditional form 經 combines 糹 (silk; thread) with 巠, which gives the sound.

Open 经 →

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.

Open 理 →
Appears in
Business & CommerceProfessions & Jobs

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