頭

Stroke order

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

• 𭀆, 𫷒, 𢸸, 𤃌, 𨯲, 𡾣, 䕱, 𨷩

• 头 (Simplified Chinese)

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

Wikipedia has articles on:

• 頭 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
• 頭 (Cantonese)
• thèu (Hakka)
• tàu (Eastern Min)
• thâu (Southern Min)
• 头 (Wu)

Historical forms of the character 頭
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *doː) : phonetic 豆 (OC *doːs) + semantic 頁 (“head”).

Replaced earlier 首 (MC syuwX, “head”) due to homophony with 手 (ɕɨuX, “hand”) (Sagart, 1999).

Several etymologies have been proposed:

• From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-bu-s (“head”) or its allofam *du (“head”); compare Tibetan དབུ (dbu, “head”), Burmese ဦး (u:, “head”), Nuosu ꀑ (o, “head”), Proto-Loloish *ʔ-du² (“head”) (Benedict, 1972; Schuessler, 2007; STEDT; Starostin).
• Contraction of 髑髏 (OC *doːɡ roː, “skull”) (Wu, 2006).
• From Proto-Mon-Khmer *duul() (“to carry on one's head”), whence Khmer ទូល (tul); this is phonologically plausible since final consonants are often lost after a long vowel in loanwords (Schuessler, 2007).
• A variant of 豆 (OC *doːs, “a kind of vessel”), as skulls could have been used as drinking recipients; compare French tête (“head”) from Latin testa (“pot; jug”) and German Kopf (“head”) from Middle High German kopf (“drinking vessel”) (Maréchal, 1994; Sagart, 1999). However, Schuessler (2007) notes that 豆 (*doːs) seems like a tone C (去聲) derivation from 頭 (*doː), which may have originally meant “skull”.
• Baxter and Sagart (2014) reconstructs the Old Chinese with a *m- prefix for human body parts, deriving it from 兜 (*toː, “helmet; hood”).

頭

1. (anatomy) head (Classifier: 個／个 m c)

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

   • 居喪之禮，頭有創則沐，身有瘍則浴。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     居丧之礼，头有创则沐，身有疡则浴。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE

     Jūsāng zhī lǐ, tóu yǒu chuāng zé mù, shēn yǒu yáng zé yù.

     According to the same rules, if he have a scab on his head, he should wash it; if he have a sore on his body, he should bathe it.

   • 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.

     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; hairstyle

   洗頭／洗头  ―  xǐtóu  ―  to wash one's hair

   把頭剃光／把头剃光  ―  bǎ tóu tì guāng  ―  to shave one's head

3. beginning or end

   從頭開始／从头开始  ―  cóng tóu kāishǐ  ―  to start from the beginning

4. top; tip; end

   山頭／山头  ―  shāntóu  ―  top of a mountain

   火柴頭／火柴头  ―  huǒchái tóu  ―  tip of a match

5. chief; boss; leader (person that leads or directs)

   工頭／工头  ―  gōngtóu  ―  foreman

   你們的頭兒是誰？ [MSC, trad.]
   你们的头儿是谁？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐmen de tóur shì shéi?

   Who is your leader?

6. remnant; end

   布頭兒／布头儿  ―  bùtóur  ―  oddment

   煙頭／烟头  ―  yāntóu  ―  cigarette bud

7. first; leading

   頭獎／头奖  ―  tóujiǎng  ―  first prize; biggest prize

   頭班車／头班车  ―  tóu bān chē  ―  first departure

8. (used before a classifier or a numeral) first

   頭一遍／头一遍  ―  tóu yī biàn  ―  the first time

   頭三天／头三天  ―  tóu sān tiān  ―  the first three days

   頭幾個／头几个  ―  tóu jǐge  ―  the first few

9. (Hakka, Southern Min, dated in Mainland China) station

   車頭／车头 [Hokkien]  ―  chhia-thâu [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  train station

10. side; aspect
11. (Cantonese) area; location

    嗰頭／嗰头 [Cantonese]  ―  go² tau⁴   ―  that area

    你喺邊頭返工㗎？ [Cantonese, trad.]
    你喺边头返工㗎？ [Cantonese, simp.]

    nei⁵ hai² bin¹ tau⁴ faan¹ gung¹ gaa³?

    Where do you work?

12. (Teochew) at the same time; simultaneously

    头尋头呌门外来 [Teochew, trad.]
    头寻头呌门外来 [Teochew, simp.]

    From: late Qing/early Republic, anonymous, 古板一世報全歌, book 3 page 6

    tao⁵ cim⁵ tao⁵ giê³ mung⁵ ghua⁷ lai⁵ [Peng'im]

    While searching and shouting went outdoors.

13. (Cantonese) plug; connector; short for 插頭／插头.

    type C頭／type C头 [Cantonese]  ―  type C tau^4-2   ―  USB Type-C connector

14. 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.

15. (dialectal) Classifier for other animals.
16. (Northern Min) Classifier for flowers.
17. (Cantonese) Classifier for number of pieces of dried seafood (e.g. abalones) in one catty.
18. (Cantonese) Classifier for number of abalones in one can.