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风头 (fēng tóu) — the direction of the wind; the trend or course of events; the limelight, public attention (often in 出风头)

Definition

风口 (fēngtóu) literally means 'wind direction' but mostly extends to mean 'the trend of events' or, with 出风头, 'the limelight'. Almost always used in fixed phrases like 出风头 and 抢风头.

noun
the direction of the windthe trend or course of eventsthe limelightpublic attention (often in 出风头)

Examples

  • ，。
    Fēng tou tū rán biàn le, wǒ men dé tiáo zhěng háng xiàn.
    The wind direction suddenly changed, so we have to adjust the course.
  • 风头，。
    Tā zǒng néng bǎ wò zhù fēng tóu, zuò chū zhèng què de jué dìng.
    He can always grasp the trend and make the right decision.
  • 。
    Tā tài xǐ huan chū fēng tóu le.
    She loves to be in the limelight too much.

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.

风fēngwind
头tóuhead/direction

风 is wind and 头 is its head or direction, giving the sense of how events blow.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

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 →
Appears in
Abstract ConceptsWeather

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