1.
roughly; more or less; in general
Indicates doing something to a basic or general degree without going into great depth or detail.
一通り説明した。
I gave a rough explanation.
料理は一通りできる。
I can do most types of cooking.
日本語の文法は一通り勉強したが、まだ自信がない。
I've studied Japanese grammar more or less, but I'm still not confident.
2.
once through; from beginning to end
Indicates going through something completely once, covering all items or steps.
資料に一通り目を通した。
I looked through the materials once.
会議の議題を一通り確認した。
I checked through all the meeting agenda items.
新人に仕事の流れを一通り教えてから、実践に入った。
After teaching the new employee the workflow from start to finish, we moved on to practice.
An extremely common adverb meaning to do something to a general degree or to go through something once completely. The two senses overlap — both involve covering something without exhaustive depth.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 一通り目を通す: to look through (a document) once
- 一通り説明する: to explain roughly
- 一通りできる: to be able to do (something) more or less
- 一通り終わる: to finish going through everything
- 一通り揃う: to have a basic set of everything
USAGE:
Sense 1 often appears with verbs of ability (一通りできる) to indicate general competence. Sense 2 often pairs with verbs of checking or reviewing to indicate covering all items.
SIMILAR WORDS:
- ざっと: more casual; emphasizes speed and roughness
- だいたい: focuses on approximation rather than coverage
- ひと通り: same word, alternate kanji rendering