頭 — head, counter for large animals

Readings

On'yomi came with the character from Chinese; kun'yomi is the native Japanese word it was borrowed for. A dot marks where okurigana takes over, a hyphen marks a prefix or suffix position.

On'yomi

• とう tou
• ず zu
• と to

Kun'yomi

• あたま atama
• かしら kashira
• -がしら -gashira
• かぶり kaburi

Words that use 頭

A kanji is worth learning for the words it unlocks. These are from the JLPT vocabulary lists.

• 頭 あたま head JLPT N5
• 頭痛 ずつう headache JLPT N3
• 頭 とう counter for large animals (e.g. head of cattle) JLPT N2
• 頭脳 ずのう head JLPT N2
• 先頭 せんとう head (of a line, group, etc.) JLPT N2
• 口頭 こうとう oral JLPT N1
• 街頭 がいとう (on the) street JLPT N1
• 冒頭 ぼうとう beginning JLPT N1