头油 (tóu yóu) — hair oil, pomade | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

hair oilpomade

Examples

头油。
Tā měi tiān dōu huì yòng yì diǎn tóu yóu lái gù dìng fà xíng.
He uses a little hair oil every day to fix his hairstyle.
头油，。
Zhè zhǒng tóu yóu xiāng wèi hěn dàn, bú huì tài yóu nì.
This kind of hair oil has a light scent and isn't too greasy.
头油，。
Xǐ wán tóu fa bié mǎ shàng tú tóu yóu, yào děng bàn gān.
Don't apply hair oil right after washing your hair — wait until it's half dry.

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.

Oil 油 for the 头, as pomade.

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.

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

氵由油

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

由

由yóu油yóu

Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

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