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总统 (zǒng tǒng) — president (of a country)

Definition

总统 is specifically the president of a COUNTRY. Use 校长 for a school president, 主席 for a committee/organization chair, and 总裁 for a company CEO.

noun
president (of a country)
Measure word · 个, 位, 名, 届

Examples

  • 总统。
    Zhè wèi zǒng tǒng zài huì yì shàng fā biǎo le zhòng yào jiǎng huà.
    This president delivered an important speech at the meeting.
  • 总统。
    Xià yí jiè zǒng tǒng jiāng zài míng nián yī yuè jiù zhí.
    The next president will take office in January next year.
  • 总统。
    Sān míng qián zǒng tǒng chū xí le diǎn lǐ.
    Three former presidents attended the ceremony.

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zǒngchief
统tǒngcommand

总 contributes chief or general and 统 contributes command, so the word names the chief who commands.

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 統; 统 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
充
充chōng統tǒng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 統 uses 糸 as a meaning part and 充 as a sound part; the simplified 统 is a later shorthand, so this story is about 統, not about 统's parts.

Open 统 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 51000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsGovernment & Politics2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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