head
Meanings
- The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
- To do with heads.
- Mental or emotional aptitude or skill.
- Mind; one's own thoughts.
- A headache; especially one resulting from intoxication.
- A headdress; a covering for the head.
- An individual person.
- A single animal; measure word for livestock and game.
- The population of game.
- The antlers of a deer.
- The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
- The end of a table.
- Of, relating to, or intended for the head.
- To be in command of. (See also head up.)
- To come at the beginning or front of; to commence.
- To strike with the head
- To move in a specified direction.
- To remove the head from (a fish).
- To originate; to spring; to have its course, as a river.
- To form a head.
- To form a head (on or to); to fit or furnish (something) with a head.
- To cut off the top of; to lop off.
- To behead; to decapitate.
- To go in front of.
- To get in the front of, so as to hinder or stop; to oppose.
- Foremost in rank or importance.
- Placed at the top or the front.
- Coming from in front.
- A surname from Middle English, from residence near a hilltop or the head of a river, or a byname for someone with an odd-looking head.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *káput- Proto-Germanic *haubudą Old English hēafod Middle English heed English head From Middle English efd, had, hafd, heafd, hed, heed, hefet, heid, het, hevd, heved, hevid, hiede, hæfd, hæfedd, from Old English hēafod (“head; top; leader; origin”), from Proto-West Germanic *haubud, from Proto-Germanic *haubudą (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *káput (“head”), from *kap- (“head; bowl, cup”). The modern word comes from Old English oblique stem hēafd-; the expected Modern English outcome for hēafod would be *heaved (similar to the Middle English word). Doublet of cape, capo, caput, chef, chief, and Howth. Cognates Cognate with Scots heid (“head”), Yola haade, hade, heade (“head”), North Frisian Haur, hood (“head”), Saterland Frisian Haud, Hööft (“head”), West Frisian haad (“head”), Alemannic German Haupt (“head”), Dutch hoofd (“head”), German Haupt, Häupt (“head”), Vilamovian hiöet, hiöt, huöt, huø̄t (“head”), Yiddish הויפּט (hoypt, “head”), Danish hode, hoved (“head”), Elfdalian ovuð (“head”), Faroese høvd, høvur (“head”), Icelandic höfuð (“head”), Jamtish huvu (“head”), Norwegian Bokmål hode, hue (“head”), Norwegian Nynorsk haud, hauv, hove, hovu, hovud, hue, huggu, hugu, hugud, huvu, huvud (“head”), Scanian huweð (“head”), Swedish hufvud, hufwud, huve, huvud, hövve (“head”), Crimean Gothic hoef (“head”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌳 (haubid), 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌸 (haubiþ, “head”); also Irish and Scottish Gaelic cuach (“bowl; dome (of head)”), Welsh cawg (“basin, bowl, vessel”), Latin capud, capus, caput (“head”), Greek κεφάλι (kefáli), κεφαλή (kefalí, “head”), Central Kurdish کاپۆڵ (kapoll, “skull”), Sanskrit कपाल (kapāla, “skull; bowl”).