頭家

简 头家 · 繁 頭家
Mandarin · pinyin tóu jiā

Meanings

  1. organizer of a gambling party who takes a cut of the winnings
  2. banker (gambling)
  3. preceding player (in a game)
  4. (dialect) boss
  5. proprietor
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Characters in this entry

頭
tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
家
jiā · house, home, residence; family
头
tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–1 · tou2 jia1

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

頭家 · find source passages ↗ · 头家 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 10 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

  1. (chiefly Southern Min, Hakka) owner (of a shop etc., addressed by customers)
  2. (chiefly Southern Min, Hakka) boss (addressed by employees)
  3. (chiefly Southern Min, Hakka, dated in Leizhou Min) husband
  4. (gambling) organizer of a gambling party who takes a cut of the winnings
  5. (gambling, card games) banker of the first round
  6. (gambling, card games) first player
  7. (gambling, card games) preceding player
  8. organizer of a ceremony at a temple
  9. (Putian Puxian Min) casino boss
  10. (Puxian Min) leader, head, chief

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

頭家 · tou2 jia1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 119,047
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record頭家 头家 [tou2 jia1] /organizer of a gambling party who takes a cut of the winnings/banker (gambling)/preceding player (in a game)/(dialect) boss/proprietor/