Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

頭 (radical 181 頁+7, 16 strokes, cangjie input 一廿一月金 (MTMBC), four-corner 1118₆, composition ⿰豆頁)

References

• KangXi: page 1404, character 20
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 43490
• Dae Jaweon: page 1921, character 13
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 7, page 4372, character 5
• Unihan data for U+982D

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Chinese

trad.		頭
simp.		头

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (豆) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
	Old Chinese
侸	*toː
剅	*toː, *roː
郖	*toː, *doːs
鬪	*toːs
鋀	*tʰoː
頭	*doː
豆	*doːs
逗	*doːs, *dos
痘	*doːs
梪	*doːs
脰	*doːs
荳	*doːs
浢	*doːs
餖	*doːs
毭	*doːs
豎	*djoʔ
裋	*djoʔ
短	*toːnʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *doː) : phonetic 豆 ‎(OC *doːs) + semantic 頁.

Etymology

Replaced earlier 首 (OC *hljuʔ, *hljus, “head”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

頭

1. (anatomy) head

   我頭不再痛了。 / 我头不再痛了。  ―  Wǒ tóu bùzài tòng le.  ―  My head doesn't hurt any more.

   • 我又要叫你和女人彼此為仇；你的後裔和女人的後裔也彼此為仇。女人的後裔要傷你的頭；你要傷他的腳跟。 [MSC, trad.]
     我又要叫你和女人彼此为仇；你的后裔和女人的后裔也彼此为仇。女人的后裔要伤你的头；你要伤他的脚跟。 [MSC, simp.]
     From: 新標點和合本 (Chinese Union Version with New Punctuation), 創世記 (Genesis) 3:15

     Wǒ yòu yào jiào nǐ hé nǚrén bǐcǐ wéi chóu; nǐ de hòuyì hé nǚrén de hòuyì yě bǐcǐ wéi chóu. Nǚrén de hòuyì yào shāng nǐ de tóu; nǐ yào shāng tā de jiǎogēn. [Pinyin]

     And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

2. hair
3. top; tip; end
4. chief; boss
5. remnant; end
6. Classifier for livestock.  ⇒ all nouns using this classifier

   我有兩頭豬。 / 我有两头猪。  ―  Wǒ yǒu liǎng tóu zhū.  ―  I have two pigs.

7. first; leading
8. Diminutive suffix.

Synonyms

• 元 (yuán, “head; first”)

Compounds

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Japanese

Kanji

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: ず (zu)
• Kan’on: とう (tō)
• Tōon: じゅう (jū)
• Kan’yōon: と (to)
• Kun: あたま (atama), かしら (kashira), こうべ (kōbe), かぶり (kaburi)
• Nanori: かみ (kami), がみ (gami), ちゃん (chan), つむり (tsumuri), づ (zu)

Compounds

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
頭
あたま Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) あたま​ [àtámáꜜ] (Odaka - [3])^[1][2]
• (Tokyo) あた​ま [àtáꜜmà] (Nakadaka - [2])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [a̠ta̠ma̠]

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana あたま, romaji atama)

1. (anatomy) the forehead or fontanelle part of the skull
2. head (body part)

   頭 (あたま)が痛 (いた)い。

   Atama ga itai.

   My head hurts.

Idioms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
頭
かしら Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) かしら​ [kàshíráꜜ] (Odaka - [3])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ɕiɾ̠a̠]

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana かしら, romaji kashira)

1. the head as a whole
2. boss, leader
3. top part of a Chinese character
4. head of a doll

Alternative forms

• (head of a doll): 首

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
頭
かぶり Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) かぶり [kàbúrí] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• (Tokyo) かぶり​ [kàbúríꜜ] (Odaka - [3])^[1][2]
• (Tokyo) か​ぶり [káꜜbùrì] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠bɯᵝɾi]

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana かぶり, romaji kaburi)

1. head

Idioms

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
頭
かぶ Grade: 2
Irregular

Cognate with 株 ‎(kabu, “stump”).

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• IPA^(key): [ka̠bɯᵝ]

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana かぶ, romaji kabu)

1. (obsolete) head

Derived terms

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
頭
つぶり Grade: 2
Irregular

Probably a compound of 粒 ‎(tsubu, “round thing, such as a grain”) + ろ ‎(ro, suffix indicating a state or condition).

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• IPA^(key): [t͡sɯᵝbɯᵝɾi]

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana つぶり, romaji tsuburi)

1. head

Etymology 6

Kanji in this term
頭
つむり Grade: 2
Irregular

From tsuburi above. Bilabial plosive /b/ becomes bilabial nasal /m/.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• (Tokyo) つむり​ [tsùmúríꜜ] (Odaka - [3])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [t͡sɯᵝmɯᵝɾi]

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana つむり, romaji tsumuri)

1. head
2. hair of head

Etymology 7

Kanji in this term
頭
つむ Grade: 2
Irregular

Shortened from tsumuri: see above.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• IPA^(key): [t͡sɯᵝmɯᵝ]

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana つむ, romaji tsumu)

1. head

Derived terms

Etymology 8

Kanji in this term
頭
こうべ Grade: 2
kun'yomi

kamipe > kampe > kaube > koːbe. Compound of either 上 ‎(kami, “upper”) or 髪 ‎(kami, “hair”) with the suffix 方 ‎(pe, “location”).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) こうべ [kòóbé] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• (Tokyo) こうべ​ [kòóbéꜜ] (Odaka - [3])^[1][2]
• (Tokyo) こ​うべ [kóꜜòbè] (Atamadaka - [1])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞ːbe̞]

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana こうべ, romaji kōbe, historical hiragana かうべ)

1. head

Alternative forms

• 首

Etymology 9

Kanji in this term
頭
どたま Grade: 2
Irregular

Contraction of ど ‎(do, “super-”, often used ironically as a derogatory prefix) +‎ 頭 ‎(atama, “head”).

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• (Tokyo) どたま​ [dòtámáꜜ] (Odaka - [3])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [do̞ta̠ma̠]

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana どたま, romaji dotama)

1. (derogatory) head

Usage notes

Often spelled in hiragana, as どたま.

Etymology 10

Kanji in this term
頭
ず Grade: 2
on'yomi

/du/ → /d͡zu/ → /zu/

From Middle Chinese 頭 ‎(duw, “head”).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) ず [zù] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [zɯᵝ]

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana ず, romaji zu, historical hiragana づ)

1. head

Usage notes

This reading is more often found in compounds, such as 頭痛 ‎(zutsū, “a headache”).

Idioms

Etymology 11

Kanji in this term
頭
とう Grade: 2
on'yomi

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• IPA^(key): [to̞ː]

Counter

頭 ‎(hiragana とう, romaji -tō)

1. heads of large animals (cows, horses)

   合 (あ)わせて１３００ (せんさんびゃく)頭 (とう)余 (あま)りが出荷 (しゅっか)され、全国各地 (ぜんこくかくち)に流通 (りゅうつう)した

   Awasete sen sanbyaku tō amari ga shukka sare, zenkoku kakuchi ni ryūtsū shita.

   Altogether over 1300 heads of cattle have been distributed throughout the country.

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana とう, romaji tō)

1. head

Derived terms

References

1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3

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Korean

Hanja

頭 • ‎(du) (hangeul 두, McCune-Reischauer tu, Yale twu)

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Northern Amami-Oshima

Kanji

頭 ‎(hiragana つぃぶる, romaji tsiburu)

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 頭 ‎(tsuburi), dialectal 頭 ‎(tsuburo), itself probably a compound of 粒 ‎(tsubu, “round thing, such as a grain”) + ろ ‎(ro, suffix indicating a state or condition).

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana つぃぶる, romaji tsiburu)

1. head

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Oki-No-Erabu

Kanji

頭 ‎(hiragana ちぶる, romaji chiburu)

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 頭 ‎(tsuburi), dialectal 頭 ‎(tsuburo), itself probably a compound of 粒 ‎(tsubu, “round thing, such as a grain”) + ろ ‎(ro, suffix indicating a state or condition).

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana ちぶる, romaji chiburu)

1. head
2. an intelligent person

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Okinawan

Kanji

頭 ‎(hiragana ちぶる, romaji chiburu)

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 頭 ‎(tsuburi), dialectal 頭 ‎(tsuburo), itself probably a compound of 粒 ‎(tsubu, “round thing, such as a grain”) + ろ ‎(ro, suffix indicating a state or condition).

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana ちぶる, romaji chiburu)

1. head
2. an intelligent person

Compounds

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Southern Amami-Oshima

Kanji

頭 ‎(hiragana つぃぶる, romaji tsiburu)

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 頭 ‎(tsuburi), dialectal 頭 ‎(tsuburo), itself probably a compound of 粒 ‎(tsubu, “round thing, such as a grain”) + ろ ‎(ro, suffix indicating a state or condition).

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana つぃぶる, romaji tsiburu)

1. head

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Vietnamese

Han character

頭 (đầu)

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Yaeyama

Kanji

頭 ‎(hiragana つぶり, romaji tsuburi, hiragana つぃぶる, romaji tsiburu, hiragana つぃぶるぃ, romaji tsiburi)

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 頭 ‎(tsuburi), dialectal 頭 ‎(tsuburo), itself probably a compound of 粒 ‎(tsubu, “round thing, such as a grain”) + ろ ‎(ro, suffix indicating a state or condition).

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana つぶり, romaji tsuburi, hiragana つぃぶる, romaji tsiburu, hiragana つぃぶるぃ, romaji tsiburi)

1. head

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Yoron

Kanji

頭 ‎(hiragana ちぶる, romaji chiburu)

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 頭 ‎(tsuburi), dialectal 頭 ‎(tsuburo), itself probably a compound of 粒 ‎(tsubu, “round thing, such as a grain”) + ろ ‎(ro, suffix indicating a state or condition).

Noun

頭 ‎(hiragana ちぶる, romaji chiburu)

1. head
2. an intelligent person