低头 (dī tóu) — to bow one's head, to look down; to yield, to g… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

低头 is a separable verb: literally 'lower + head' (低下头), meaning to bow one's head or, figuratively, to yield. 鞠躬 is a formal bow with the body; 让 means to let or yield (right/position), not a physical gesture.

verb

to bow one's headto look downto yieldto give in (figurative)

Examples

，低头。
Shàng kè de shí hou, bú yào yì zhí dī tóu.
Don't keep your head down during class.
，低头。
Suī rán shī bài le, dàn tā jué bù dī tóu.
Although he failed, he absolutely will not give in.
，。
Tā dī xià le tóu, yí jù huà yě méi shuō.
He lowered his head and didn't say a word.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

低 means lower and 头 is head, so the word describes lowering the head.

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.

亻氐低

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénman, person

Sound part声符shēngfú

氐

氐dī低dī

Same sound today

In 低, the left side 亻 is a person, and the right side 氐 gives the sound; the image is a person lowering or bowing themselves.

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.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 Body Parts

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