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noun HSK 4
Traditional 額頭
é tou
forehead

Meaning

额头 refers to the part of the face above the eyebrows and below the hairline. It's a common body part term used in everyday conversation, medical contexts, and descriptive language.

Usage

This is the standard colloquial term for forehead in Mandarin. It's used in both casual and formal contexts. Native speakers often use it when describing someone's appearance, discussing injuries or temperature (like checking for fever), or talking about facial features.

Examples

  1. 01
    妈妈摸了摸我的额头，看我是不是发烧了。
    Māma mō le mō wǒ de é tou, kàn wǒ shì bu shì fā shāo le.
    Mom felt my forehead to see if I had a fever.
  2. 02
    他的额头上有一道疤痕。
    Tā de é tou shàng yǒu yī dào bā hén.
    He has a scar on his forehead.

Characters

Measure words

  • 个gè一个额头

Common collocations

  • 摸额头
    mō é tou
    to touch/feel the forehead (checking temperature)
  • 额头上
    é tou shàng
    on the forehead
  • 宽额头
    kuān é tou
    broad forehead
  • 撞到额头
    zhuàng dào é tou
    to bump one's forehead

Origin

额 originally meant forehead in Classical Chinese, while 头 is a common suffix for body parts and nouns. Together they form the standard modern term for this facial feature.

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