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PlainSpell

head

/hɛd/noun, adjective, verb

head is spelled H-E-A-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 324 times per million words in written English, the 289th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, head means “The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of head is heads.

How many letters and syllables are in head?

Letters4: H-E-A-D
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing324 times per million words; the 289th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is head?

Head appears 324 times per million words in written English, the 289th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce head?

  • US /hɛd/
  • Australia /hed/
  • /hiːd/

Head has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-head.ogg, En-uk-head.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-head.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with head

Also written: hed.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with head?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as head from its last stressed vowel (/ɛd/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: hade.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of head

  • heads plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • 'ead UK
  • heead
  • heading participle, present
  • headed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does head mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.

    Be careful when you pet that dog on the head; it may bite.

  2. 2

    Mental or emotional aptitude or skill.

    The company is looking for people with good heads for business.

  3. 3

    Mind; one's own thoughts.

    This song keeps going through my head.

  4. 4

    A headache; especially one resulting from intoxication.

  5. 5

    A headdress; a covering for the head.

    a laced head

  6. 6

    An individual person.

    Admission is three dollars a head.

  7. 7

    A single animal; measure word for livestock and game.

  8. 8

    The population of game.

    We have a heavy head of deer this year.

adjective

  1. 1

    Of, relating to, or intended for the head.

  2. 2

    Foremost in rank or importance.

    the head cook

  3. 3

    Placed at the top or the front.

  4. 4

    Coming from in front.

    head sea

verb

  1. 1

    To be in command of. (See also head up.)

    Who heads the board of trustees?

  2. 2

    To come at the beginning or front of; to commence.

    A group of clowns headed the procession.

  3. 3

    To strike with the head

    to head the ball

  4. 4

    To move in a specified direction.

    We are going to head up North for our holiday.

  5. 5

    To remove the head from (a fish).

    Near-synonyms: behead, dehead

  6. 6

    To originate; to spring; to have its course, as a river.

  7. 7

    To form a head.

    This kind of cabbage heads early.

  8. 8

    To form a head (on or to); to fit or furnish (something) with a head.

    to head a nail

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate head?

Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of head: hd, hd..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Head in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtête (part of the body), dispositions, aptitudes (mental aptitude or skill), bout (topmost or leading part), commander, diriger (to be in command of)
GermanKopf, Haupt, Chopf, Näggel (part of the body), Spitze, Oberende (topmost or leading part)
Portuguesecabeça (part of the body), comandar, dirigir, liderar (to be in command of), cabecear (to strike with the head), dirigir-se (to move in a specified direction)
Spanishcabeza, chola, coco, maceta, marote, melón (part of the body)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does head come from?

From Middle English efd, had, hafd, heafd, hed, heed, hefet, heid, het, hevd, heved, hevid, hiede, hæfd, hæfedd, from Old English hēafod (“head; top; leader; origin”), from Proto-West Germanic *haubud, from Proto-Germanic *haubudą (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *káput (“head”), from *kap- (“head; bowl, cup”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after head