English

headwall

From head + wall.

A compound of head + wall

Proto-Indo-European *kap- ‘head’

…

Proto-Germanic *haubudą ‘head’

Proto-West Germanic *haubud

Old English hēafod ‘head’

Middle English heed ‘head’

English head

Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to turn’

Latin vallum ‘wall’

Proto-West Germanic *wall ‘wall’

Old English weall ‘wall’

Middle English wal

English wall

Today it means

noun The highest cliff of a glacial cirque.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / headwall