Etymology

headword

H4E1A1D2W4O1R1D2

Today it means: A word (or compound term) used as the title of a list entry or section, particularly in a dictionary, encyclopedia, or thesaurus. Full definition →

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The story

From head + word. Compare West Frisian haadwurd (“noun, substantive, headword”), Dutch hoofdwoord (“headword”), German Hauptwort (“noun, substantive, headword”), Swedish huvudord (“headword, keyword”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.