懂中文 Dong Chinese

總

zǒng

collect

Original meaning: 

bind together

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 悤 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind together", since thread (糹) is used to put things together.

Components
糹 meaning component

糹  Meaning component

sī, mì

  

silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

悤 sound component

悤  Sound component

cōng

  

agitated

Evolution

總 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
總 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
總 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

总 (總) 

zǒng

collect; overall, altogether; always; to assemble; gather; total; overall; head; chief; general; in every case

Most common words with 總
Freq.
Word
Meaning

总

always

总是

always

总统

president (of a country)

总之

in a word

总结

to sum up