I know the literal meaning of 头, but I'm confused about what it mean and what it's function is when it is placed in this structure.
头一次遇到 I wrote is not a complete sentence, but 一次遇到 here means the first time (I) met....
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1means 第一次遇到, 头 means from the start to count– sfyAug 26, 2017 at 15:15
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＂现代汉语词典＂，头：(8)第一：～等｜～号（９）领头的：次序居先的：～车｜～马｜～羊（１０）用在数量词前面，表示次序在前的：～趟｜～一遍｜～半本｜～几个｜～三天（＝前面的三天）– user6065Aug 26, 2017 at 15:31
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also note synonyms: 首次,初次,第一次，"antonym" 其次– user6065Aug 27, 2017 at 13:03
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1 Answer
头 not only means 'head'.It also means 'the first order',also means 'leader' , 'the first class','the beginning'etc. Because(actually my guess) in Chinese culture, head is the first and important part of the human body.
You can also say"头三个人"，which means, the first three people. Another example is '头排'，which means 'the first row'. Here '一' is missing because generally '头'and '一' refers to the same meaning. You can replace '头'by'第'sometimes. e.p. you can say either '头一次遇到' or '第一次遇到'. BUT! '头三个人' and '第三个人' have different meanings. '第三个人' means the third person.
