总
zǒng · HSK 3
always
总 = 丷 (eight) over 口 (mouth) over 小 (small) — 'always summing up many voices'
总 (zǒng) means always or to sum up. The bottom 小 once represented threads being gathered together; the modern sense extends from 'gather all' to 'in every case, always, after all'.
总 — top 丷 + 口 + 心 (heart radical)
总 is the simplified form of 總. The traditional form combined 糸 (silk threads) with 悤 as phonetic, originally meaning to gather or tie threads together. From 'bundling threads' the meaning extended to 'gather all,' 'general,' 'overall,' and 'always.'