头 (tóu): head, hair style, the top
头 (tóu) is a Chinese character meaning “head.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺀ (structural) and 大 (semantic). It ranks #147 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 头 high. Its radical form 大 (big) appears in many related characters such as 大 (dà, big), 天 (tiān, day), 太 (tài, highest).
Definitions
- head
- hair style
- the top
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 头 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 头
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 头发noun | tóu fa | hair (on the head) | 3 |
| 回头verb/adverb/conjunction | huí tóu | to turn round | 6 |
| 石头noun | shí tou | stone | 5 |
| 镜头noun | jìng tóu | camera lens | 6 |
| 骨头noun | gǔ tou | bone | 6 |
| 头脑noun | tóu nǎo | brains | 6 |
| 摄像头noun | shè xiàng tóu | webcam | 6 |
| 码头noun | mǎ tou | wharf | 6 |
| 舌头noun | shé tou | tongue | 6 |
| 街头noun | jiē tóu | street | 6 |
| 开头verb/noun | kāi tóu | beginning | 6 |
| 枕头noun | zhěn tou | pillow | 6 |
| 木头noun | mù tou | wood | 5 |
| 头痛adjective | tóu tòng | to have a headache | 4 |
| 钟头noun | zhōng tóu | (coll.) hour | 6 |
| 里头noun | lǐ tou | inside | 5 |
| 抬头verb | tái tóu | to raise one's head | 4 |
| 低头verb | dī tóu | to bow the head | 5 |
| 点头verb | diǎn tóu | to nod | 4 |
| 口头noun/adjective | kǒu tóu | oral | 6 |
| 馒头noun | mán tou | steamed bun | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 头儿 | tóu r | leader |
| 老头 | lǎo tóu | old fellow |
| 头部noun | tóu bù | head |
| 尽头noun | jìn tóu | end |
| 头疼verb | tóu téng | headache |
| 手头 | shǒu tóu | on hand |
| 头绪noun | tóu xù | outline |
| 念头noun | niàn tou | thought |
| 头盔 | tóu kuī | helmet |
| 拳头noun | quán tou | fist |
| 头号 | tóu hào | first rate |
| 大块头noun | dà kuài tóu | heavy man |
| 丫头noun | yā tou | girl |
| 头骨 | tóu gǔ | skull |
| 从头adverb | cóng tóu | anew |
头 appears in 141 compound words: 19 as the first character, 70 as the last, and 11 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 头 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (83)
to become dizzy (with desire, success, love, etc.); to turn one's head; to lose one's head
Showing 12 of 83 idioms containing 头.
Example Sentences
这家餐厅的菜味道正宗，价格也很合理。
Zhè jiā cāntīng de cài wèidao zhèngzōng, jiàgé yě hěn hélǐ.
The food in this restaurant tastes authentic, and the prices are also very reasonable.
...40-50%也无法套现?全球10大私募巨头遭遇“退出寒冬”-FX168
. . . 4 0 5 0 yě wú fǎ tào xiàn ? quán qiú 1 0 dà sī mù jù tóu zāo yù tuì chū hán dōng F X 1 6 8
... 40-50% can't be cashed out? The world's top 10 private equity giants suffered an "exit winter" - FX168
...万职位 马惟善:今年招商引资 打造湾区桥头堡
. . . wàn zhí wèi mǎ 惟 shàn : jīn nián zhāo shāng yǐn zī dǎ zào wān qū qiáo tóu bǎo
... Ma Weishan: This year's investment promotion to build a bridgehead in the Bay Area
利弗莫尔中概股龙头指数收涨0.94% 网易有道涨近..
lì 弗 mò ěr zhōng gài gǔ lóng tóu zhǐ shǔ shōu zhǎng 0 . 9 4 wǎng yì yǒu dào zhǎng jìn . .
Livermore Chinese Concept Stock Leading Index closed up 0.94% NetEase Youdao rose nearby:
抖音集团李亮:炒作“字节是恒科的最大空头”很荒唐也..
dǒu yīn jí tuán lǐ liàng chǎo zuò zì jié shì héng kē de zuì dà kōng tóu hěn huāng táng yě . .
Jitterbug Group's Li Liang: The speculation that "Byte is the biggest short of Henco" is absurd and...
欧洲头条丨慕尼黑的沉默,比争吵更刺耳
ōu zhōu tóu tiáo 丨 mù ní hēi de chén mò , bǐ zhēng chǎo gēng cī ěr
Europe Headlines丨Munich's Silence Is More Deafening Than Any Clash
你能举起这块石头吗？
Nǐ néng jǔqǐ zhè kuài shítou ma?
Can you lift this stone?
您的头发是什么颜色的？
Nín de tóufa shì shénme yánsè de?
What color is your hair?
你现在手头儿有钱吗？先借我点儿。
Nǐ xiànzài shǒutóu r yǒuqián ma? xiān jiè wǒ diǎnr.
Do you have cash on you now? Could you lend me some?
没头脑和不高兴做了什么事？
Méi tóunǎo hé bù gāoxìng zuò le shénmeshì?
What did Brainless and Unhappy do?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 头 (tóu) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 头 have?
What is the radical of 头?
What are the components of 头?
What are common words containing 头?
What characters sound the same as 头 (tóu)?
Is 头 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 头 with real-time feedback
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