TongTong
Sign in

头儿 (tóu r) — boss, leader (colloquial); end, tip, beginning

Definition

Colloquial, often-er variant (noun) for both senses above: the person in charge (boss/leader) and the tip or beginning of something. Only used in spoken/informal writing.

noun
bossleader (colloquial)endtipbeginning
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 头儿。
    Wǒ men bù mén de tóu r jīn tiān kāi huì le.
    The head of our department had a meeting today.
  • ，。
    Bǎ xiàn tóu r jiǎn diào, bù rán huì tuō xiàn.
    Cut off the end of the thread, otherwise it will unravel.
  • ，。
    Zuò shì yào cóng tóu r kāi shǐ, bù néng bàn tú ér fèi.
    When doing things, you must start from the beginning and not give up halfway.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

头tóutop
儿érerhua sound

The idea of 头 as top or front joins with the colloquial 儿 sound to mean boss or tip.

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.

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 →

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

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →
Appears in
Social Roles & Status2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.