顶 (dǐng): top

Meanings

1 top
2 apex
3 to carry on the head
4 classifier for hats

Characters

顶

dǐng

top; apex; to carry on the head

Combines 丁 (nail/top) with 页 (head) — the very top of the head.

Examples

他买了一顶新帽子。

Tā mǎi le yī dǐng xīn màozi.

He bought a new hat.

我们终于爬到了山顶。

Wǒmen zhōngyú pá dào le shāndǐng.

We finally climbed to the top of the mountain.

他顶着大雨跑回家。

Tā dǐng zhe dàyǔ pǎo huíjiā.

He ran home braving the heavy rain.

Tips

usage

As a classifier, 顶 is specifically used for hats, tents, and mosquito nets — things that go above your head.

grammar

Common compounds: 山顶 (mountain top), 顶部 (top part), 屋顶 (roof), 顶多 (at most).

Components

radical

页 yè

page; head

Right radical 页 (head/page) is the simplified form of 頁, which depicted a person's head with prominent face-features — used in body-part chars relating to the head. Anchors 顶 firmly as 'the top of the head', and by extension 'the top of anything'. Same 页 radical in 颈 (neck), 额 (forehead), 颜 (face) — all head-region body parts.

phonetic

丁 dīng

nail; man

Left phonetic 丁 supplies the sound — dīng shifted to dǐng by tone change only. 丁 originally pictured a nail viewed from above and from the side — the very 'top' of a driven peg. Faint semantic bleed-through: the head of a nail is its 顶 (top, peak). Same 丁 phonetic produces 钉 (nail), 订 (settle), 盯 (stare), 厅 (hall).