diān
noun #19,639

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 summit
  2. 2 apex
  3. 3 peak
  4. 4 pinnacle (of one's career etc)

Examples

HSK 7-9
Tā de yǎnchàng shìyè dádào le diānfēng.
His singing career reached its pinnacle.
HSK 7-9
Dēngshàng shān diān, fǔkàn zhěnggè chéngshì.
Climbing to the summit, they looked down over the whole city.

Components

radical
shān
mountain
Mountain radical sits on top - the literal location of a peak. Stacking above gives the picture of a mountain's crown, the highest point reachable. Same radical anchors , , , all peak-and-ridge vocabulary.
phonetic
diān
top; summit; to topple
Bottom supplies sound and meaning together: diān to diān (no shift), and already meant 'top of the head, summit'. is essentially + clarifying - written when the peak being described is specifically a mountain rather than a head or a chariot top.

Stroke Order

diān