巅 (diān): summit

Measure Word

一个巅峰 gè

Meanings

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

Characters

巅

diān

summit; peak; pinnacle

Examples

他的演唱事业达到了巅峰。

Tā de yǎnchàng shìyè dádào le diānfēng.

His singing career reached its pinnacle.

登上山巅，俯瞰整个城市。

Dēngshàng shān diān, fǔkàn zhěnggè chéngshì.

Climbing to the summit, they looked down over the whole city.

Components

radical

山 shān

mountain

Mountain radical sits on top — the literal location of a peak. Stacking 山 above 颠 gives the picture of a mountain's crown, the highest point reachable. Same radical anchors 峰, 岭, 岳, all peak-and-ridge vocabulary.

phonetic

颠 diān

top; summit; to topple

Bottom supplies sound and meaning together: diān → diān (no shift), and 颠 already meant 'top of the head, summit'. 巅 is essentially 颠 + clarifying 山 — written when the peak being described is specifically a mountain rather than a head or a chariot top.