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秃头 (tū tóu) — (verb) to be bald, to have a bald head; (noun) a bald person

Definition

秃头 (tūtóu) means 'bald head' (noun) or 'to go bald' (verb) — used for people, casually and somewhat humorously rather than as a polite term.

verb
to be baldto have a bald head
noun
a bald person
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 。
    Tā sān shí suì jiù tū le tóu.
    He became bald at the age of thirty.
  • 秃头。
    Nà ge tū tóu shì wǒ de lǎo shī.
    That bald person is my teacher.
  • 秃头。
    Hěn duō rén dān xīn zì jǐ huì tū tóu.
    Many people worry that they will go bald.

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.

秃tūbald
头tóuhead

秃 (bald) describes the 头 (head), giving a bald head or bald person.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 禿; 秃 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 禿 puts 毛 (hair) with 儿 (person), showing a person with little or no hair. The simplified 秃 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the historical picture.

Open 秃 →

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
AppearanceBody Parts

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