Cognate with頭顱 (OC*doː b·raː) and𩑒顱 (MC dak|traek|trhaek lu). The first syllable髑 (OC*doːɡ) is aSino-Tibetan item probably fromProto-Sino-Tibetan*tuk ~ *twak(“head; skull; neck”), whence also脰 (OC*doːs, “neck”). The second syllable,髏 (OC*roː) is likely a reduplication syllable starting with *r/*l (Schuessler, 2007). Alternatively but less likely, the second syllable is related to婁 (OC*ɡ·roː) with a hypothetical meaning of "empty" or "dried" (see婁婁／娄娄 (“empty”)); compareMizolu ro(“skull”, literally“dried head”), with the second syllablero meaning "dry".

Words that appear similar to髑髏 (OC*doːɡ roː) include顱 (MC lu, “skull”) andKhmerរលា(rɔliə,“forehead; cranium; skull”).

髑髏

1. skull of acorpse

   • 莊子之楚，見空髑髏。[Classical Chinese,trad.]
     庄子之楚，见空髑髅。[Classical Chinese,simp.]

     From:Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuriesBCE

     Zhuāngzǐ zhī Chǔ, jiàn kōngdúlóu.[Pinyin]

     When Zhuangzi went to Chu, he saw an emptyskull.

2. head of acorpse

FromMiddle Chinese髑髏 (MC duwk luw, “skull”).

• (Tokyo)どくろ[dóꜜkùrò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1][2][3]
• IPA^(key): [do̞kɯ̟ɾo̞]

髑(どく)髏(ろ)• (dokuro) 

1. aweatheredcleanskull
2. adeath's head

• 髑(どく)髏(ろ)崇(すう)拝(はい)(dokuro sūhai): askullcult
• 髑(どく)髏(ろ)杯(はい)(dokurohai): agoblet made from askull

/sarekaube/ →/sarekɔːbe/ →/sarekoːbe/

Compound of曝れ(sare,“weathering”,the連用形(ren'yōkei,“continuative or stem form”) of verb曝れる(sareru,“toweather, todegrade in color or form due to longexposure towind,rain, andsun”)) +‎頭(kōbe,“head”).^[4][5][1][3]

The kanji spelling is an example ofjukujikun (熟(じゅく)字(じ)訓(くん)).

Thefricative readings are less common, and derive as shifts fromsarekōbe:

• /sarekoːbe/ →/ɕarekoːbe/
• /sarekoːbe/ →/ɕarekoːbe/ →/ɕarikoːbe/

• (Tokyo)されこーべ[sàrékóꜜòbè] (Nakadaka – [3])^[1][2][3]
• IPA^(key): [sa̠ɾe̞ko̞ːbe̞]

• (Tokyo)しゃれこーべ[shàrékóꜜòbè] (Nakadaka – [3])^[1][2][3]
• IPA^(key): [ɕa̠ɾe̞ko̞ːbe̞]

• (Tokyo)しゃりこーべ[shàríkóꜜòbè] (Nakadaka – [3])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ɕa̠ɾʲiko̞ːbe̞]

髑髏(されこうべ)• (sarekōbe) ^{←されかうべ(sarekaube)?}
(alternative readinghiraganaしゃれこうべ,rōmajisharekōbe,historical hiraganaしやれかうべ)
(alternative readinghiraganaしゃりこうべ,rōmajisharikōbe,historical hiraganaしやりかうべ)

1. aweatheredcleanskull

Basic sense ofskull:

• 頭(かしら)骨(ぼね)(kashirabone),頭(とう)骨(こつ)(tōkotsu)
• 頭(ず)蓋(がい)(zugai),頭(とう)蓋(がい)(tōgai)
• 頭(ず)蓋(がい)骨(こつ)(zugaikotsu),頭(とう)蓋(がい)骨(こつ)(tōgaikotsu)

• “〈^▲髑^▲髏〉”, in漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese),The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation,2015–2026

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