头头 (tóu tóu) — chief, head, leader (colloquial)

Definition

Informal spoken word for 'chief / head / leader', usually within a small group (a project, company, team). It refers to the person in charge, not an official title. Often used as ∼是谁？ / 一个新∼.

noun

chiefheadleader (colloquial)

Measure word · 个

Examples

头头。
Tā shì wǒ men gōng sī de tóu tóu.
He is the head of our company.
头头？
Zhè ge xiàng mù de tóu tóu shì shuí?
Who is the head of this project?
头头。
Tā men xuǎn le yí gè xīn tóu tóu.
They elected a new leader.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

头tóuchief

The same 头 is repeated, with the sense of chief or leader, to form a colloquial word for a leader.

Characters in this word

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

豆dòu頭tóu

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.

Open 头 →