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眉头 (méi tóu) — brow (the area between the eyebrows, often used in expressions about facial expressions)

Definition

眉头 (méi tóu) refers to the brow — the space between the eyebrows — and is almost always used in expressions describing facial expressions (frowning, knitting the brow), not as a plain body-part label.

noun
brow (the area between the eyebrows, often used in expressions about facial expressions)

Examples

  • 眉头，。
    Tā zhòu qǐ le méi tóu, hǎo xiàng zài sī kǎo wèn tí.
    He furrowed his brow, as if thinking about a problem.
  • ，眉头。
    Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, tā de méi tóu jǐn suǒ.
    Upon hearing this news, her brow was tightly knitted.
  • ，眉头。
    Kàn dào hái zi ān quán huí lái, tā cái shū zhǎn kāi méi tóu.
    Seeing the child return safely, he finally relaxed his brow.

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.

眉méieyebrow
头tóutop/area

眉 'eyebrow' with 头 'top/area' names the brow region.

Characters in this word

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

眉 originally showed 𠃜, hair, above 目, an eye.

Open 眉 →

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
Body Parts

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