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

HSK 1

他顶着大雨跑回家。

Tā dǐng zhe dàyǔ pǎo huíjiā.

He ran home braving the heavy rain.

HSK 3

我们终于爬到了山顶。

Wǒmen zhōngyú pá dào le shāndǐng.

We finally climbed to the top of the mountain.

HSK 4

他买了一顶新帽子。

Tā mǎi le yī dǐng xīn màozi.

He bought a new hat.

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).