顿 (dùn) · measure word for meals, to pause

Meanings

1 measure word for meals
2 to pause
3 to stamp (one's foot)

Characters

顿

dùn

a pause; a meal (measure word); suddenly

Contains 页 (page/head) - a pause or nod of the head.

Examples

HSK 1

我一天吃三顿饭。

Wǒ yì tiān chī sān dùn fàn.

I eat three meals a day.

HSK 4

妈妈批评了他一顿。

Māma pīpíng le tā yí dùn.

Mom gave him a scolding.

HSK 6

他请我吃了一顿大餐。

Tā qǐng wǒ chī le yí dùn dàcān.

He treated me to a big meal.

Tips

grammar

顿 as a measure word is mainly for meals (一顿饭) and also for scoldings/beatings (骂了一顿 = gave a scolding, 打了一顿 = gave a beating).

Components

radical

页 yè

head; page

Right page/head radical - simplified form of 頁, originally a kneeling person with an emphasized head (Kangxi #181). The indexing radical here. Marks 顿 as a head-related action: nodding, kowtowing, knocking the head against the ground (顿首) - a literal pause-and-bow. Same radical anchors 颈 (neck), 颜 (face), 顶 (top), 项 (back of neck), 颠 (peak).

phonetic

屯 tún

sprout pushing up

Left component supplies the sound (tún → dùn, a regular dental-initial drift). 屯 itself depicts a sprout pushing up through hard ground, which is sometimes read as a faint semantic echo of 'pausing-and-pushing forward', the rhythmic stop-start that gives 顿 its 'pause / meal / suddenly' senses. Same phonetic in 钝 (blunt), 沌 (chaotic), 囤 (stockpile).