ENGLISH
REFERENCE

head

n. countable
A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈhɛd// UK //hˈɛd// head Archaic General-service Slang Vulgar

n. The part of your body on top of your neck that has your brain, eyes, and mouth. It can also mean the top part of something, or the person in charge.

n. The uppermost part of the human body, containing the brain and the primary sense organs. By extension, it can refer to the foremost or uppermost part of an object, or to a person in a position of leadership.


SIMPLE

She nodded her head in agreement.

CONTEXTUAL

He is the head of the marketing department at a large company.

COMPLEX

The river's head is a small spring high in the mountains, from which it gathers strength on its long journey to the sea.

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Etymology 1

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *káput- Proto-Germanic *haubudą Old English hēafod Middle English heed English head From Middle English hed heed, from Old English hēafd-, hēafod (“head, top, chief”), from Proto-West Germanic haubud, from Proto-Germanic haubudą (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *káput. 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. Cognate with Old English hafela (“head”), Scots heid, hede, hevid, heved (“head”), North Frisian hood (“head”), Dutch hoofd (“head”), German Haupt (“head”), Danish hoved (“head”), Faroese høvd, høvur (“head”), Icelandic höfuð (“head”), Norn heved (“head”), Norwegian hode (“head”), hoved- (“head, chief, main, principal”), Swedish huvud (“head”), Latin caput (“head”), Hindi कपाल (kapāl, “skull”), Sanskrit कपाल (kapāla, “skull”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English heed, from Old English hēafod- (“main”), from Proto-West Germanic haubida-, derived from the noun haubid (“head”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian hööft-, West Frisian haad-, Dutch hoofd-, German Low German höövd-, German haupt-.

Idioms80 entries

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