Word
一通り
Meaning in Englishgeneral, briefly
Animated kanji stroke order
Sentence
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Word context
What it means
What does 一通り mean? It denotes handling something in a general, cursory, or routine way, such as going through material once to grasp the gist or covering the basics without going into depth.
Main meanings
- General overview or cursory treatment: going through something once to grasp the gist.
- In a routine or general sense: the usual scope or extent, not in depth.
- With する: performing an action in a basic or superficial manner, or going through the motions.
How to use it
- Casual to formal contexts: used to describe performing an activity at a general or superficial level.
- With verbs: 一通り見る, 一通り読む, 一通り説明する to indicate a basic, non-exhaustive pass.
- Common in planning or reviews where depth is not required at the moment.
Variants and close terms
- ざっと (zatto) — roughly, briefly
- だいたい (daitai) — generally, roughly
- おおむね (oomune) — mostly, generally
Composition
- 一: means one, individual, or single unit.
- 通り: means way, method, or path; in this compound it conveys the sense of manner or coverage.
Etymology
ひと + とおり → ひととおり (hitotōri) demonstrates a native reading of a compound where 一 contributes the sense of 'one' and 通り conveys 'way/mashion,' with phonetic assimilation producing a single, natural pronunciation.
Word class
noun (suru-verbable)
Word
Related words by kanji and components
N1
通常
tsuujou
common, normal, usual
N1
見通し
mitooshi
perspective, unobstructed view, prospect
N1
融通
yuuzuu
adaptability, versatility, finance
N1
流通
ryuutsuu
circulation of money or goods, distribution
N1
一息
hitoiki
a breath, a pause, an effort
N1
一頃
hitokoro
once, some time ago
N1
一筋
hitosuji
a line, earnestly, blindly, straightforwardly
N2
～通
～tsuu
counter for letters
N2
～通り
～toori
in accordance with ~; following ~; ~ street, ~ avenue
Kanji