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大头 (dà tóu) — (noun) main part, bulk (of something, e.g., money, work); (noun) big shot, bigwig (colloquial); (noun) spendthrift, wastrel (derogatory)

Definition

大头 literally means 'big head' but is used figuratively: the bulk/main share of something, or a 'big shot' (person in charge). As a derogatory label, it calls someone a spendthrift.

noun
main partbulk (of something, e.g., money, work)big shotbigwig (colloquial)spendthriftwastrel (derogatory)

Examples

  • ，大头。
    Zhè cì huó dòng de jīng fèi, dà tóu shì gōng sī chū de.
    The bulk of the funding for this event came from the company.
  • 大头，。
    Tā zài gōng sī lǐ shì gè dà tóu, shuō huà hěn yǒu fèn liàng.
    He's a big shot in the company; his words carry weight.
  • ，大头。
    Tā huā qián dà shǒu dà jiǎo de, zhēn shì gè dà tóu.
    He spends money lavishly; he's really a spendthrift.

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.

大dàbig
头tóuhead

The meaning comes from 大 'big' and 头 'head', suggesting something large or at the front.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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 ConceptsPeople (General)

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