全体（ぜんたい、zentai）
- whole

The Japanese word 全体 (ぜんたい) means "whole," "entirety," "overall," or "the whole thing." It refers to the complete amount, extent, or scope of something. It emphasizes the concept of something being complete, including all its parts, and not just a portion or a single element. It can be applied to physical objects, groups of people, concepts, or even time periods. The 全体 is contrasted with a part or a fraction of something.

⚫︎ 全体の意見を聞きたいです。 Translation: I want to hear the opinions of the whole group. ⚫︎ このプロジェクトの全体像が見えてきました。 Translation: I can see the overall picture of this project now. ⚫︎ 全体的に見ると、この映画は面白かったです。 Translation: Overall, this movie was interesting.

⚫︎ 全体 is a versatile word, suitable for formal and informal situations. ⚫︎ You can use it to describe the scope of a subject, the general trend, or the collective of something. ⚫︎ It is often used with words that describe a group, or an object in its entirety. For example, 会社全体 (the whole company), クラス全体 (the entire class), 全体の状況 (the overall situation). ⚫︎ It can also modify verbs. For example, you can say 全体を見渡す which means "to look over the whole"

⚫︎ 全体 is typically written in kanji as 全体. ⚫︎ The reading is ぜんたい (zen-tai) in hiragana. ⚫︎ There are no variations in okurigana for this word.

⚫︎ すべて (subete) - "all," "everything" ⚫︎ 全部 (zenbu) - "all," "everything" ⚫︎ 全体的 (zentai-teki) - "overall," "general" (adjectival form) ⚫︎ 全体像 (zentai-zou) - "whole image" or "overall picture"

⚫︎ 一部 (ichibu) - "a part," "a portion" ⚫︎ 部分 (bubun) - "part" ⚫︎ 局所 (kyokusho) - "a locality", "a part", "a section"

会議の全体的な流れについて説明します。 ・Translation: I will explain the overall flow of the meeting. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 全体的 to describe the general sequence of events in the meeting.

全体の学生が試験を受けました。 ・Translation: All the students took the exam. ・Explanation: In this case, 全体 refers to the totality of the students participating in the exam.

The word 全体 is a compound word formed from the kanji 全 (zen) meaning "whole" or "entire," and 体 (tai) meaning "body," "form," or "substance." Thus, the literal meaning is "whole body" or "complete form," extending to the meaning of "whole" or "entirety".