The Chinese word 总理 (zǒnglǐ), meaning "premier" or "prime minister", is a compound term formed by combining two meaningful characters: 总 (zǒng), which conveys the idea of "overall", "chief", or "general", and 理 (lǐ), which means "to manage", "to administer", or "principle". Together, they create the concept of the "chief administrator" or the one who holds overall responsibility for governance, reflecting the word's function to denote the head of a state's administrative branch. Historically, the term has been used in various contexts to indicate a top supervisory role, with its modern political usage solidifying in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican era to specifically mean the head of government.