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head

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

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Letters

4 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "head", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "head" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "head" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

head is aEnglishnoun. It means: The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs. Pronounced /ˈhɛd/. It ranks #288 in English word frequency. Often confused with her and hey.

Key facts for head
PropertyValue
Headwordhead
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhɛd/
Letters4
Frequency rank#288
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of head in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for head is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈhɛd/. Corpus data places it at rank #288 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 59 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for head, with forms such as "ehad", "haed", and "headd". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "her", "hey", "hes", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 *ha… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is head, spelled H-E-A-D, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
  2. 2
    The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
  3. 3
    The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
  4. 4
    The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
  5. 5
    The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
  6. 6
    The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
  7. 7
    The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
  8. 8
    The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
  9. 9
    The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
  10. 10
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  11. 11
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  12. 12
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  13. 13
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  14. 14
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  15. 15
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  16. 16
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  17. 17
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  18. 18
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  19. 19
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  20. 20
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  21. 21
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  22. 22
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  23. 23
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  24. 24
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  25. 25
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  26. 26
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  27. 27
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  28. 28
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  29. 29
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  30. 30
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  31. 31
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  32. 32
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  33. 33
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  34. 34
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  35. 35
    The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
  36. 36
    A leader or expert.
  37. 37
    A leader or expert.
  38. 38
    A leader or expert.
  39. 39
    A leader or expert.
  40. 40
    A significant or important part.
  41. 41
    A significant or important part.
  42. 42
    A significant or important part.
  43. 43
    A significant or important part.
  44. 44
    A significant or important part.
  45. 45
    A significant or important part.
  46. 46
    A significant or important part.
  47. 47
    A significant or important part.
  48. 48
    A significant or important part.
  49. 49
    A significant or important part.
  50. 50
    Headway; progress.
  51. 51
    Topic; subject.
  52. 52
    Denouement; crisis.
  53. 53
    Pressure and energy.
  54. 54
    Pressure and energy.
  55. 55
    Pressure and energy.
  56. 56
    Fellatio or cunnilingus; oral sex.
  57. 57
    The glans penis.
  58. 58
    A heavy or habitual user of illicit drugs.
  59. 59
    Power; armed force.

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 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”).

Synonyms

beanbeanerbelfryblockboncebrainboxbrain bucketdomeheadloaflollynappernoodlenoddlenogginnutsconceskull

This word in other languages

Spanish(Español)Portuguese(Português)French(Français)German(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ehad,haed,headd,heda,hhead

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for head

Misspelling Variants of "head"

ehad4haed4headd5heda4hhead5
Misspelling Variants of "head"

Frequency rank: #288 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "head"?
"head" is spelled H-E-A-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɛd/.
What does "head" mean?
As a noun, "head" means: The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
What words are commonly confused with "head"?
"head" is commonly confused with "her", "hey", "hes". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "head"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "head" is /ˈhɛd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "head"?
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 Ge... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter H in our English index:

All "H" wordsABCDEFGHIJKL

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.