place on the head, receive, top of head, top, summit, peak
頂 centers on the highest point: the top of the head, a summit, or a peak. The sense of receiving something placed on the head extends naturally from that idea of the topmost position.
頂 combines 丁 (which likely contributes the sound) with 頁 (head), suggesting the top of the head. The meaning later broadened to any summit or peak.
The left side 丁 looks like a nail driven into the top of the right side 頁 (head). Picture a nail marking the very top of the head, the summit of the body.
For チョウ, imagine a long-serving chief named Chou standing on the peak of a mountain: Chou -> チョウ, and he is at the very top.
to receive; to get; to accept; to take; to buy
to be able to receive; to be able to take; to be able to accept
vertex; apex
receiving; getting; accepting; being given
top (of a mountain); summit
summit (of a mountain)
top; summit; peak
crown (of head); summit (of mountain); spire
top of the head; crown of the head; vertex; (the) parietal
climbing to the summit; summiting
ecstasy
one's true worth; one's true self; what one is really made of
zenith; vertex
height; pinnacle
sour look; surly face; pout
red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis); Japanese crane
tearjerker; sob story; maudlin tale
to have the privilege of doing
peak of a financial bubble (esp. in Japan around 1990)
red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis); Japanese crane