Etymology

turtlehead

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Today it means: A white turtlehead, an American perennial herb (Chelone glabra) with white flowers. Full definition →

English head ← Middle English heed ← Old English hēafod
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The story

  1. Englishturtle
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kap-?
  3. Proto-Indo-European*kap-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*káput
  5. Proto-Germanic*haubudą
  6. Old Englishhēafod
  7. Middle Englishheed
  8. Englishhead
  9. English todayturtlehead

From turtle + head, from the shape of the flower. Influenced by the taxonomic name Chelone.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.