乳头 (rǔ tóu) — nipple (of human or animal)

Definition

noun

nipple (of human or animal)

Measure word · 个

乳头。
Mā ma yòng wēn shuǐ qīng xǐ le zì jǐ de rǔ tóu.
The mother cleaned her nipple with warm water.
乳头，。
Yī shēng jiǎn chá le tā de rǔ tóu, shuō méi yǒu wèn tí.
The doctor examined her nipple and said there was no problem.
乳头。
Bǔ rǔ dòng wù de rǔ tóu shù liàng tōng cháng yǔ yòu zǎi shù liàng yǒu guān.
The number of nipples in mammals is usually related to the number of offspring.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

The breast 乳 and its tip 头 together name the nipple.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

乳 originally drew a kneeling woman holding and breastfeeding a child, matching its meanings of breast and milk.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

豆頁頭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yèhead

Sound part声符shēngfú

豆

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

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