頂

Phono-semantic compound, consists of:

頁 (머리 혈) — semantic, head, skull, top of head

丁 (고무래 정) — phonetic, gives the sound jeong / dǐng

Thus 頂 originally meant:

- “the top of the head” (physical)

- later, “the highest point” (conceptual)

Semantic extension:

top of head → highest point → utmost point → to support/resist → to surpass

This explains the wide semantic range in modern Chinese and Japanese.

頂上 (정상) — top; summit

頂門 (정문) — crown of the head

頂戴 (정대) — to bear on the head; to honor

頂點 (정점) — vertex; pinnacle

山頂 (산정) — mountain top

頂禮 (정례) — prostration, deep bow (head to ground)

頂破 (정부) — “top broken,” metaphor for pushing through; offensive strategy term

Extended meanings:

- “best,” “top-level,” “supreme”: 頂級 (정급) — top-class

- “to oppose / resist”: 頂撞 (정장) — head-on collision; resistance

Idioms:

頂天立地 — upright and mighty

頂門一針 — “a needle at the crown,” a metaphor for a sharp, precise insight

山巔頂上 — atop the mountain peak

丁 — phonetic for several words involving firmness or extremity:

頂, 町, 釘, 鼎 (phonetic relation in some historical stages)

Classical citations:

《詩經·小雅·小旻》 (The Book of Songs)

「如彼築室於道謀，是用不臧，頂踵靡所施。」

“Like one building a house in the roadway—nothing is rightly placed, from head to heel” — 頂 = top of the head.

《孟子·滕文公下》 (Mencius)

「頂冠而立。」

“He stood erect with the crown of his cap raised.”

《史記·猛張飛列傳》 (Records of the Grand Historian)

「怒目圓睜，頂門上起。」

“Eyes rounded in fury, the crown of his head seemed to rise.”

《後漢書·馬融傳》 (Book of the Later Han Dynasty)

「頂天立地。」

“Standing with head touching Heaven and feet planted on Earth” — idiom meaning indomitable, upright.

《三國志》 (Romance of the Three Kingdoms)

「兵鋒所向，無不頂抵。」

“Wherever the army’s spearpoints aimed, none could resist” — 頂 = resist, withstand.