TongTong
Sign in

头条 (Tóu tiáo) — headline news; the most important news story; Toutiao, a popular news aggregation app (short for 今日头条)

Definition

Refers to the top headline news story, or to Toutiao (今日头条), the popular Chinese news and content app. Shorter than the formal 头条新闻, and as a brand name it usually stands alone without 今日.

noun
headline newsthe most important news storyToutiaoa popular news aggregation app (short for 今日头条)
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 头条。
    Jīn tiān de Tóu tiáo shì yì qíng zuì xīn xiāo xi.
    Today's headline is the latest news on the epidemic.
  • 头条。
    Tóu tiáo Shàng yǒu xǔ duō yǒu qù de shì pín.
    There are many interesting videos on Toutiao.
  • 头条。
    Zhè tiáo xīn wén shàng le Tóu tiáo.
    This news story made the headlines.

Origin

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.

头tóufirst/top
条tiáoitem/line

头 gives first or top, and 条 gives an item or line; the sense is the top news item.

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.

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 →

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 條; 条 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
攸
攸yōu條tiáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 條 pairs 木, a small branch or stick, with 攸, which shows a person warned by a hand holding a stick, as a sound part; 条 is a later shortened shape.

Open 条 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Media & News

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.