"H" Word Origins

hazel

Old English

From Old English hæsl, going back to a Proto-Indo-European root for the hazel tree.

hazelnut

Old English

A straightforward compound of "hazel" and "nut," going back to Old English hæselhnutu.

Hazelwood

Origin

A straightforward compound of hazel and wood.

hazmat

Origin

A blend of "hazardous" and "material(s)."

hazy

Old English

Origin uncertain — likely tied to an old nautical word "hawsey," possibly from an Old English word for grey or dusky.

HBCU

English

An initialism of historically black college or university.

HBD

English

An initialism of happy birthday.

HBU

English

An initialism of how about you.

HD

English

An abbreviation of high definition.

HDD

English

An initialism of hard disk drive.

he

Old English

From Old English hē, going back through Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European demonstrative meaning "this one."

hea

Origin

As an adverb, a dialect variant of "here." The slang adjective sense arose separately among students as informal shorthand for "easy."

head

Old English

From Old English heafod, going back through Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "head" or "cup" — a distant relative of "cape," "chief," and "captain."

headache

Old English

From Old English heafodece, literally "head-ache."

headband

Old English

From Old English heafodbend, "head" plus "band."

headboard

Origin

A compound of "head" and "board."

headcount

Origin

From head + count.

headdress

Origin

A compound of "head" and "dress."

headed

Origin

From "head" plus the suffix "-ed."

header

Origin

From "head" plus the agent suffix "-er."

headfirst

Origin

A compound of "head" and "first."

headgear

Origin

A compound of "head" and "gear."

headhunt

Origin

Back-formation from headhunter.

headhunter

Origin · 1900

A straightforward compound of head and hunter; the recruitment sense is a 20th-century figurative extension of the older, literal one.

heading

Origin

Formed from head plus the suffix -ing, originally referring to whatever stood at the "head" (top) of a page or a group.

headlamp

Origin

From head + lamp.

headland

Origin

From Middle English hedelond, hedelonde, from Old English hēafodland, hafudland (“boundary, headland”), equivalent to head + land. Eclipsed non-native Middle English chevicir (“headland”), borrowed from Old French chevecier (“head piece”).

headless

Old English · 2000

From Old English hēafodlēas, a straightforward joining of head and the negative suffix -less; the tech sense is a modern 20th/21st-century extension.

headlight

Origin

A compound of head (front) and light, describing a light fitted at the front of a vehicle.

headline

Origin

From head plus line, originally the line of text sitting at the "head" of an article.

headliner

Origin

Formed from headline plus the agent suffix -er, someone or something that "headlines."

headlock

Origin

A compound of head and lock, describing a hold that "locks" the head in place.

headlong

Middle English

From Middle English hedlong, an old form reshaped by association with the word long, ultimately tied to head.

headmaster

Origin

A compound of head and master, denoting the person at the "head" of the teaching staff.

headmistress

Origin

A compound of head and mistress, the female counterpart of headmaster.

headphones

Origin

From head plus phones (an informal shortening of telephones), describing speaker units worn on the head.

headpiece

Origin

A compound of head and piece, originally referring to any object covering or protecting the head.

headpin

Origin

From head + pin.

headquarters

Origin

A compound of head and quarters, originally denoting the lodgings ("quarters") of a commanding officer.

headroom

Origin

From head + room.

heads

Origin

Plural of head, extended into an interjection of warning and into the standard name for one side of a coin.

headset

Origin

A compound of head and set, describing a set of components worn on or fitted to the head area.

headshot

Origin

A compound of head and shot; the photography sense predates the gaming sense by decades.

headsman

Origin

From Middle English heddysman, equivalent to head + -s- + -man. Cognate with Scots hedisman, heidisman (“head man; chief; commander”). Compare also Danish høvedsmand (“captain”), Swedish hövitsman (“captain”), Icelandic höfuðsmaður (“captain”), German Hauptmann (“captain”).

headspace

Origin

From head + space.

headstall

Origin

From head + stall.

headstone

Origin

A compound of head and stone, referring to the stone set at the "head" end of a grave.

headstrong

Middle English

From Middle English heedstrong, a compound of head and strong describing someone whose "head" is strong-willed.