总裁
zǒngcái · HSK 5
president
👔 总 (overall) + 裁 (decide/judge) = the one who decides everything
总 means overall or chief; 裁 means to cut, decide, or judge (as in 裁判 referee). Together: the chief decider — the CEO or president of a company.
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.'
裁 — 戈 (halberd) + 𢦏 (phonetic, to cut)
裁 originally depicted cutting cloth with a blade, combining 衣 (clothing, embedded in the character) with 𢦏 as the phonetic component suggesting cutting. The core meaning 'to cut cloth' extended to tailoring, then broadly to 'judge, decide, reduce' — as in deciding by cutting away. Modern uses include 裁判 (judge) and 裁缝 (tailor).