头

頭

tóu, tou

HSK 3.0Level 2

Frequency#147

Definitions

tóu (noun) head

tóu (noun) top; tip; end

tóu (noun) chief; boss; leader

tóu (noun) beginning; start

tou (particle) suffix used after some nouns

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 豆 represents the sound. The simplified character 头 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 頭.

Semantic: 大

About

The character "头" is the simplified form of the traditional "頭", which etymologically combines the phonetic component "豆" with the semantic component "頁", the latter depicting a head and contributing meanings related to the cranial area. Originally denoting the physical head, the meaning extended to encompass the top part of an object, a leader, or the beginning of something, while also evolving into a nominal suffix that forms words indicating abstract concepts or items. The simplified form "头" structurally reduces a cursive variant of "頭" to the elements "大" and a dot, maintaining the core semantic field despite its graphical abstraction.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Late Spring and Autumn (~500 BC)

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical Wu (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我的头很疼。

Wǒ de tóu hěn téng.

My head hurts.

她有一头长发。

Tā yǒu yī tóu cháng fà.

She has long hair.

这块石头很重。

Zhè kuài shítou hěn zhòng.

This stone is heavy.

我们从头开始。

Wǒmen cóng tóu kāishǐ.

We start from the beginning.

他摇了摇头。

Tā yáo le yáo tóu.

He shook his head.

这个问题很头疼。

Zhège wèntí hěn tóuténg.

This problem is a headache.

他站在队伍前头。

Tā zhàn zài duìwu qiántou.

He stands at the front of the line.

事情的开头很重要。

Shìqing de kāitóu hěn zhòngyào.

The beginning of the matter is important.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 头

头