頭
あたま
hepburn atama
head
Part of speech · noun
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- 頭が痛いです。My head hurts.
- 彼は頭がいいです。He is smart.
Collocations
頭が痛い (headache)頭がいい (smart)頭を下げる (bow head)頭脳 (zunou, brain/mind)頭金 (atamakin, down payment)
Mnemonic
あたま — 頭, Yamato. Begins as a body part and runs far into metaphor ── 頭が痛い: my head hurts (physiological). 頭がいい: a good head = smart (intellectual). 頭を下げる: to bow one's head = to apologize (social ritual). Korean 'meori' shares the exact same metaphor chain — body → intellect → social action. In the onyomi ず zu, the register turns medical / formal ── 頭脳 zunou (brain), 頭痛 zutsuu (headache). The kanji 頭 also carries 'head of, leader' ── 一頭 itou (one large animal), 先頭 sentou (the lead). The Korean reading du is sister to the onyomi ず / とう.
Quick check
"I have a headache" — medical/formal Japanese?