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總理

简总理 · 繁總理

Mandarin · pinyin zǒng lǐ

premier
prime minister
Classifier: 個 gè, 位 wèi, 名 míng

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Characters in this entry

總: Look up this written character
理: lǐ · reason, logic; manage
总: zǒng · collect; overall, altogether

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–3 · zong3 li3

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

總理 · find source passages ↗ · 总理 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zung2 lei5

Cantonese word readings for 總理. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

head of government who is not also a head of state, e.g. prime minister, premier, chancellor
director of a certain organization

verb

to assume overall responsibility for; to be completely in charge of

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack