冠
- crown;
- cap;
- to crown;
- foremost;
It has two main senses:
Literal: “crown, cap, ceremonial headwear” (갓, 모자).
Extended: “to put on a crown/hat,” “to be first, foremost, supreme” (으뜸, 일등하다).
Etymology
Phono-semantic compound formed from:
冖 (멱, “cover”) – indicates something worn on the head;
寸 (촌, “hand/span”) – represents the act of placing or adjusting;
元 (원, “origin, head”) – provides the sound and reinforces the idea of “foremost, primary”.
In oracle bone script (甲骨文 jiǎgǔwén) the form combined 冃 (모자 모, “hat”) with 元.
By the Large Seal script (篆書 zhuànshū) stage:
冃 simplified into 冖,
寸 (hand) was added next to 元 to depict the act of crowning or placing the hat on someone’s head.
Usage in Korean
冠軍 (관군, “champion”) - literally means “the one who wears the crown.”