head man

noun

"head-man" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“head man” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The person in charge of an organization, clan, tribe, or other group.

Key facts for head man
PropertyValue
Headwordhead man
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “head man” sits in English frequency

head man falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for head man is 8 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No generated misspelling entries exist for head man in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English heed man, from Old English hēafodmann (“leader; captain, head of a group”), from Proto-West Germanic *haubidamann, equivalent to head + man. Cognate with Dutch hoofdman (“chief; chieftain”), German Hauptmann (“captain”), Swedish huvudman… The correct English form is head man, spelled H-E-A-D- -M-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The person in charge of an organization, clan, tribe, or other group.
  2. 2
    The leader of a village.

Etymology

From Middle English heed man, from Old English hēafodmann (“leader; captain, head of a group”), from Proto-West Germanic *haubidamann, equivalent to head + man. Cognate with Dutch hoofdman (“chief; chieftain”), German Hauptmann (“captain”), Swedish huvudman (“chief; principal; leader”). Compare also English headsman. Doublet of hetman.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "head man"?
"head man" is spelled H-E-A-D- -M-A-N.
What does "head man" mean?
As a noun, "head man" means: The person in charge of an organization, clan, tribe, or other group.
What is the origin of the word "head man"?
From Middle English heed man, from Old English hēafodmann (“leader; captain, head of a group”), from Proto-West Germanic *haubidamann, equivalent to head + man. Cognate with Dutch hoofdman (“chief; chieftain”), German Hauptmann (“captain”), Swedis... 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.

Using “head man”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is H-E-A-D- -M-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list