兜
dōu HSK7

pouch

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approved by Prismcool · Oct 19, 2026, 08:51 AM · Reviewed by Prismcool on Oct 19, 2026, 08:51 AM

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Original meaning: helmet worn by warriors

Depicts a person with a face (皃) wearing a helmet. Based on the original meaning "helmet worn by warriors". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "pouch".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a helmet.

皃
皃 Iconic component
mào face, countenance

Depicts a person (人) with a face.


Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttuwtˤo helmet, hood

說文解字

《說文》：“兜，兜鍪，首鎧也。从，从皃省。皃，象人頭也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫林志強、田勝男、葉玉英《《文源》評注》p.98
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)