Meaning of 馒头
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- steamed bun
How to use 馒头
馒头 is a plain steamed bun made from wheat dough, a staple food especially in northern China, usually eaten at breakfast or with dishes instead of rice. It is counted with 个 (gè). Example: 我早上吃了两个馒头。(Wǒ zǎoshang chī le liǎng gè mántou.) I ate two steamed buns this morning.
馒 (mán) has the food radical 饣 on the left, so it is something to eat, and 头 (tou) means head. Picture a round, plain white bun shaped like a little head sitting in a steamer.
Common mistake: Learners often say the second syllable as full fourth tone tóu or tòu, but in 馒头 it is neutral tone: mántou. Also, 馒头 has no filling, so do not use it for stuffed buns, which are 包子 (bāozi).
馒头 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
馒 mán · steamed buns · 14 strokes
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头 tóu · head · 5 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 馒头.
| 头发 | tóufa | hair (on the head) |
| 里头 | lǐtou | inside; interior |
| 点头 | diǎntóu | to nod |
| 石头 | shítou | stone |
| 头脑 | tóunǎo | brains; mind |
| 木头 | mùtou | wood; log (CL:塊|块[kuai4],根[gen1]); (fig.) blockhead; dolt |
| 老头儿 | lǎotóur | see 老頭子|老头子[lao3 tou2 zi5] |
| 镜头 | jìngtóu | camera lens; camera shot (in a movie etc) |
| 骨头 | gǔtou | bone; moral character |
| 后头 | hòutou | behind; the back |
| 前头 | qiántou | in front; at the head |
| 回头 | huítóu | to turn round; to turn one's head; later; by and by |
Questions about 馒头
What does 馒头 mean?
馒头 (mántou) means "steamed bun" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 馒头?
馒头 is made of 2 characters: 馒 (14 strokes), 头 (5 strokes). That is 19 strokes in total.
Is 馒头 an HSK word?
Yes. 馒头 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 馒头 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 馒头 is written 饅頭.
What is the difference between 馒头 and 包子?
馒头 is plain steamed bread with nothing inside. 包子 (bāozi) looks similar but is filled with meat, vegetables, or sweet paste. In some southern dialects people call filled buns 馒头 too, but in standard Mandarin keep them separate.
Why does 头 appear in so many unrelated words like 石头 and 木头?
In many words 头 works as a noun suffix read in the neutral tone, as in 石头 (shítou) stone and 木头 (mùtou) wood. In 馒头 it is similar, so it does not literally mean head there. When 头 keeps its meaning of head, as in 点头 (diǎntóu), it is read with its full second tone.