English

head man

The person in charge of an organization, clan, tribe, or other group.

    Etymology graph

    • inherited
    • borrowed
    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
    React Flow

    Click a node to zoom in · double-click to open it

    Origin

    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.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishheed man
      • inheritedOld Englishhēafodmann “leader; captain, head of a group”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*haubidamann
    • surface analysisEnglishhead “The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.”
    • surface analysisEnglishman “An adult male human.”

    Related: English hetman (doublet), Dutch hoofdman, German Hauptmann, Swedish huvudman

    Sources