绝顶 (jué dǐng) — mountain peak | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literary word for a 'mountain peak' (takes 座, like 山). Also used as an adverb meaning 'extremely/utterly' in set phrases like 绝顶聪明.

noun

mountain peak

Measure word · 座

Examples

绝顶。
Tā men zhōng yú dēng shàng le zhè zuò shān de jué dǐng.
They finally climbed to the peak of this mountain.
绝顶，。
Zhàn zài jué dǐng shàng, kě yǐ kàn dào zhěng gè chéng shì.
Standing on the peak, you can see the whole city.
绝顶。
jué dǐng Shàng de fēng jǐng měi jí le.
The scenery on the peak is extremely beautiful.

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.

绝juéextreme

顶dǐngtop

绝 'extreme' points to the highest 顶 'top', hence a mountain peak.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 絕; 绝 is its simplified writing.

刀幺絕

刀刀dāoknife
幺幺yāosilk

In the traditional form 絕, 刀 (knife) and 幺 (silk) show a knife cutting silk threads. The simplified 绝 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original picture.

Open 绝 →

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 頂; 顶 is its simplified writing.

丁頁頂

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yèhead

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng頂dǐng

Same sound today

The traditional form 頂 pairs 頁, meaning head, with 丁, which supplies the sound; the simplified 顶 is a later abbreviation.

Open 顶 →