领 (lǐng): neck; collar

Meanings

1 neck; collar
2 to lead
3 to receive

Characters

领

lǐng

collar; neck; to lead; to receive

Contains 令 (order) + 页 (head) — the leader who gives orders, also the collar around the neck.

Examples

请到前台领取你的证件。

Qǐng dào qiántái lǐngqǔ nǐ de zhèngjiàn.

Please go to the front desk to collect your documents.

他领着大家参观了工厂。

Tā lǐng zhe dàjiā cānguān le gōngchǎng.

He led everyone on a tour of the factory.

这件衬衫的领子很好看。

Zhè jiàn chènshān de lǐngzi hěn hǎokàn.

The collar of this shirt looks nice.

Tips

usage

领 has many meanings: 领子 (collar), 领导 (leader), 领取 (to collect/receive), 领先 (to lead/be ahead). Context determines which meaning.

Components

radical

页 yè

page; head (radical form)

Head/page radical — simplified form of 頁. Originally a pictograph of a person's head in profile. 领 originally meant 'neck' (the part that follows the head), then extended to 'collar', 'to lead', and 'to receive'. Same radical: 颈 neck, 顶 top, 项 nape, 颜 face.

phonetic

令 lìng

order; command

Phonetic — 令 lìng → 领 lǐng (regular tone shift). Also strongly semantic: 'leading / receiving / collar' all relate to authority and command. 令 itself depicts a kneeling person under a roof receiving orders; 领 transfers that authority sense to the head/neck above the body.