A compound of head + word
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 *werh₁- ‘to say’
…
Proto-Germanic *wurdą
Proto-West Germanic *word
Old English word
Middle English word ‘a word’
English word
Today it means
noun A word (or compound term) used as the title of a list entry or section, particularly in a dictionary, encyclopedia, or thesaurus.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / headword
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