head

pronunciation

How to pronounce head in British English: UK [hed] word uk audio image

How to pronounce head in American English: US [hed] word us audio image

Noun:

the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
a single domestic animal
that which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings; the seat of the faculty of reason
a person who is in charge
the front of a military formation or procession
the pressure exerted by a fluid
the top of something
the source of water from which a stream arises
(grammar) the word in a grammatical constituent that plays the same grammatical role as the whole constituent
the tip of an abscess (where the pus accumulates)
the length or height based on the size of a human or animal head
a dense clusters of flowers or foliage
the educator who has executive authority for a school
an individual person
a user of (usually soft) drugs
a rounded compact mass
the foam or froth that accumulates at the top when you pour an effervescent liquid into a container
the part in the front or nearest the viewer
a difficult juncture
forward movement
a V-shaped mark at one end of an arrow pointer
the subject matter at issue
a line of text serving to indicate what the passage below it is about
the rounded end of a bone that bits into a rounded cavity in another bone to form a joint
that part of a skeletal muscle that is away from the bone that it moves
(computer science) a tiny electromagnetic coil and metal pole used to write and read magnetic patterns on a disk
(usually plural) an obverse side of a coin that bears the representation of a person's head
the striking part of a tool
(nautical) a toilet on board a boat or ship
a projection out from one end
a membrane that is stretched taut over a drum
oral-genital stimulation
Verb:

to go or travel towards
be in charge of
travel in front of; go in advance of others
be the first or leading member of (a group) and excel
direct the course; determine the direction of travelling
take its rise
be in the front of or on top of
form a head or come or grow to a head
remove the head of

Word Origin

head: head: [OE] The word head can be traced back ultimately to Indo-European *kauput-, *kaupet-, which probably had connotations of ‘bowl’ (as in ‘skull’) as well as ‘head’, although which came first is not clear. From it was descended prehistoric Germanic *khaubutham, *khaubitham, which produced German haupt, Dutch hoofd, Swedish huvud, and English head.A variant of the Indo-European ancestor, *kaput-, seems to have been responsible for the Latin word for ‘head’, caput (source of a wide range of English words, including capillary, capital, captain, and chief), and also for Sanskrit kapucchala- ‘hair at the back of the head’ and Danish hoved ‘head’. And a further related form, *keup-, produced English hive, Latin cūpa ‘barrel’, and medieval Latin cuppa (source of English cup and German kopf ‘head’).=> capital, captain, chief, cup

head (n.): Old English heafod "top of the body," also "upper end of a slope," also "chief person, leader, ruler; capital city," from Proto-Germanic *haubudam (cognates: Old Saxon hobid, Old Norse hofuð, Old Frisian haved, Middle Dutch hovet, Dutch hoofd, Old High German houbit, German Haupt, Gothic haubiþ "head"), from PIE *kaput- "head" (cognates: Sanskrit kaput-, Latin caput "head"). Modern spelling is early 15c., representing what was then a long vowel (as in heat) and remained after pronunciation shifted. Of rounded tops of plants from late 14c. Meaning "origin of a river" is mid-14c. Meaning "obverse of a coin" (the side with the portrait) is from 1680s; meaning "foam on a mug of beer" is first attested 1540s; meaning "toilet" is from 1748, based on location of crew toilet in the bow (or head) of a ship. Synechdochic use for "person" (as in head count) is first attested late 13c.; of cattle, etc., in this sense from 1510s. As a height measure of persons, from c. 1300. Meaning "drug addict" (usually in a compound with the preferred drug as the first element) is from 1911. To be over (one's) head "beyond one's comprehension" is by 1620s. To give head "perform fellatio" is from 1950s. Phrase heads will roll "people will be punished" (1930) translates Adolf Hitler. Head case "eccentric or insane person" is from 1979. Head game "mental manipulation" attested by 1972.

head (v.): "to be at the head or in the lead," c. 1200, from head (n.). Meaning "to direct the head (toward)" is from c. 1600. Related: headed, heading. The earliest use of the word as a verb meant "behead" (Old English heafdian). Verbal phrase head up "supervise, direct" is attested by 1930.