總而言之

简 总而言之 · 繁 總而言之
Mandarin · pinyin zǒng ér yán zhī

Meanings

  1. in short
  2. in a word
  3. in brief
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

總
Look up this written character
而
ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
言
yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
之
zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
总
zǒng · collect; overall, altogether
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–2–2–1 · zong3 er2 yan2 zhi1

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.

總而言之 · find source passages ↗ · 总而言之 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zung2 ji4 jin4 zi1

Cantonese word readings for 總而言之. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) all in all; all things considered

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

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