殊途同歸

简 殊途同归 · 繁 殊途同歸
Mandarin · pinyin shū tú tóng guī

Meanings

  1. different routes to the same destination (idiom); fig. different means of achieve the same end
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

殊
shū · different, special, unusual
途
tú · way, road, path, journey; course
同
tóng · same, similar; together with
歸
Look up this written character
归
guī · return; return to, revert to
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–2–2–1 · shu1 tu2 tong2 gui1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links
Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

殊途同歸 · find source passages ↗ · 殊途同归 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) different roads lead to the same destination; all roads lead to Rome

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

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

殊途同歸 · shu1 tu2 tong2 gui1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 61,137
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record殊途同歸 殊途同归 [shu1 tu2 tong2 gui1] /different routes to the same destination (idiom); fig. different means of achieve the same end/