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头顶 (tóu dǐng) — top of the head, crown

Definition

noun
top of the headcrown
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 头顶。
    Tā gǎn jué yǒu dōng xī luò zài tóu dǐng shàng.
    He felt something fall on the top of his head.
  • 头顶。
    Tā de tóu dǐng bèi tài yáng shài dé hěn rè.
    Her crown was very hot from the sun.
  • 头顶。
    Yùn dòng yuán xùn liàn shí yào zhù yì bǎo hù tóu dǐng.
    Athletes should pay attention to protecting their head during training.

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.

头tóuhead
顶dǐngtop

头 is the head, and 顶 is its top, so the whole names the crown.

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 →

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.

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 →
Appears in
Body Parts

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