The story
- Proto-Germanic · inherited from*haubudą“head”
- Old English · inherited fromhēafd-, hēafod“head; top; source; chief”
- Latin · derived fromcaput“head”
- Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kauput-“head”
- English todaycattlehead
From cattle + head. Interestingly, both are doublets from Proto-Indo-European *kauput- (“head”), through Latin caput (“head”) and from Old English hēafd-, hēafod (“head; top; source; chief”), itself from Proto-Germanic *haubudą (“head”), respectively.
Words from the same roots
Proto-Indo-European*kauput- all →
chieftaincadelcapitellum
Latincaput all →
capeachievecapcaptainchefcorporalmischiefchieftaincabochoncaddiejefecaputcaudillocadelcapitecapitellumcapitulechapemulticipital
Old Englishhēafd-, hēafod all →
heead
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.