Meanings
nounheadquarters (plural headquarters)
- The center of an organization's operations or administration.
As though on an incendiary rampage, the fires systematically devoured the contents of Edison's headquarters and facilities.
2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion1 more example
The chicken chain’s parent company, Yum Brands, announced Tuesday that KFC’s corporate headquarters is leaving Kentucky for Texas, joining sister brand Pizza Hut’s offices in the Dallas suburb of Plano.
2025 February 19, Jordan Valinsky, “KFC is leaving Kentucky”, in CNN Business - A place of concentrated activity or influence.
The head-quarters of the rebellion in the East were at a little town called Hui-lung.
[1888 [1887 March 1], “The Great Mahomedan Rebellion in Yunnan”, in The China Review, volume XVI, →OCLC, page 85
verb
- indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of headquarter
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
noun(usually plural) the office that serves as the administrative center of an enterprise
Similar
Broader
officebusiness office
nounthe military installation from which a commander performs the functions of command
Similar
HQmilitary headquarters
Broader
military installation
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*kap-?
- Proto-Indo-European*kap-
- Proto-Indo-European*káput
- Proto-Germanic*haubudą
- Old Englishhēafod
- Middle Englishheed
- Englishhead
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷetwóres
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷetwr̥-
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷtwr̥to-
- Proto-Italic*kʷeturtos
- Latinquārtus
- Latinquārtārius
- Anglo-Normanquarter
- Middle Englishquarter
- Englishquarters
- Englishheadquarters
Translations
Afrikaans hoofkwartier, hoofkwartier
- hoofkwartiermilitary installation
- hoofkwartiercenter of organisation's activity
- hoofkantoorcenter of organisation's activity
Arabic الْقِيَادَة الْعَامَّة, مَقَرّ
- الْقِيَادَة الْعَامَّة (al-qiyāda al-ʕāmma)military installation
- مَقَرّ (maqarr)center of organisation's activity
Basque kuartel nagusi, egoitza
- kuartel nagusimilitary installation
- egoitzacenter of organisation's activity
- buzagitzacenter of organisation's activity
- buruzagitzacenter of organisation's activity
- bulegocenter of organisation's activity
- zentralacenter of organisation's activity
Bulgarian щаб, щабкварти́ра
- щаб (štab)military installation
- щабкварти́ра (štabkvartíra)military installation
- центра́ла (centrála)military installation
- це́нтър (céntăr)center of organisation's activity
- център (centăr)place
Catalan quarter general, central
- quarter generalmilitary installation
- centralcenter of organisation's activity
- seucenter of organisation's activity
- seu centralcenter of organisation's activity
- prefecturacenter of organisation's activity
Chinese Mandarin 大本營 /大本营, 指揮部 /指挥部
- 大本營 /大本营 (dàběnyíng)military installation
- 指揮部 /指挥部 (zhǐhuībù)military installation
- 司令部 (sīlìngbù)military installation
- 總部 /总部 (zǒngbù)center of organisation's activity
Czech velitelství, štáb
- velitelstvímilitary installation
- štábmilitary installation
- centrálacenter of organisation's activity
Danish hovedkvarter, hovedkvarter
- hovedkvartermilitary installation
- hovedkvartercenter of organisation's activity
Dutch hoofdkwartier, hoofdkwartier
- hoofdkwartiermilitary installation
- hoofdkwartiercenter of organisation's activity
- hoofdkantoorcenter of organisation's activity
Esperanto stabejo, sidejo
- stabejomilitary installation
- sidejocenter of organisation's activity
Estonian peakorter, staap
- peakortermilitary installation
- staapmilitary installation
Finnish päämaja, pääesikunta
- päämajamilitary installation
- pääesikuntamilitary installation
- pääkonttoricenter of organisation's activity
- keskustoimistocenter of organisation's activity
- keskuspaikkaplace
French quartier général, siège social
- quartier généralmilitary installation
- siège socialcenter of organisation's activity
- siègecenter of organisation's activity
German Hauptquartier, Zentrale
- Hauptquartiermilitary installation
- Zentralecenter of organisation's activity
- Präsidiumcenter of organisation's activity
Greek αρχηγείο, επιτελείο
- αρχηγείο (archigeío)military installation
- επιτελείο (epiteleío)military installation
- έδρα (édra)center of organisation's activity
- κέντρο (kéntro)place
Hebrew מִפְקָדָה, מטכ׳ל
- מִפְקָדָה (mifkadá)military installation
- מטכ׳ל (matei klali)center of organisation's activity
Hindi मुख्यालय, मुख्यालय
- मुख्यालय (mukhyālay)military installation
- मुख्यालय (mukhyālay)center of organisation's activity
Hungarian parancsnokság, főhadiszállás
- parancsnokságmilitary installation
- főhadiszállásmilitary installation
Icelandic höfuðstöðvar
- höfuðstöðvarmilitary installation
Indonesian markas besar, kantor pusat
- markas besarmilitary installation
- kantor pusatcenter of organisation's activity
Irish ceanncheathrú, príomhlongfort
- ceanncheathrúmilitary installation
- príomhlongfortmilitary installation
- príomhoifigcenter of organisation's activity
- ardoifigcenter of organisation's activity
Italian quartier generale, sede centrale
- quartier generalemilitary installation
- sede centralecenter of organisation's activity
Japanese 司令部, 本部
- 司令部 (shireibu)military installation
- 本部 (honbu)center of organisation's activity
- 本社 (honsha)center of organisation's activity
Korean 사령부, 본부
- 사령부 (saryeongbu)military installation
- 본부 (bonbu)center of organisation's activity
- 본사 (bonsa)center of organisation's activity
Latin praetōrium
- praetōriummilitary installation
Latvian štābs, komisariāts
- štābsmilitary installation
- komisariātsmilitary installation
Lithuanian štabas
- štabasmilitary installation
Malay ibu pejabat
- ibu pejabatcenter of organisation's activity
Māori papataunga, papataunga
- papataungamilitary installation
- papataungacenter of organisation's activity
Norwegian Bokmål hovedkvarter, hovedkvarter
- hovedkvartermilitary installation
- hovedkvartercenter of organisation's activity
- hovedkontorcenter of organisation's activity
Polish sztab, centrala
- sztabmilitary installation
- centralacenter of organisation's activity
- kwateracenter of organisation's activity
- siedzibacenter of organisation's activity
Portuguese quartel-general, sede
- quartel-generalmilitary installation
- sedecenter of organisation's activity
- matrizcenter of organisation's activity
Romanian cartier general, sediu
- cartier generalmilitary installation
- sediucenter of organisation's activity
- centralăcenter of organisation's activity
Russian штаб, штаб-кварти́ра
- штаб (štab)military installation
- штаб-кварти́ра (štab-kvartíra)military installation
- гла́вное управле́ние (glávnoje upravlénije)center of organisation's activity
- центр (centr)center of organisation's activity
- головно́й о́фис (golovnój ófis)center of organisation's activity
- гла́вный о́фис (glávnyj ófis)center of organisation's activity
- штаб-кварти́ра (štab-kvartíra)center of organisation's activity
Slovak veliteľstvo, štáb
- veliteľstvomilitary installation
- štábmilitary installation
Spanish cuartel general, cuarteles generales
- cuartel generalmilitary installation
- cuarteles generalesmilitary installation
- sedecenter of organisation's activity
- jefaturacenter of organisation's activity
- sede centralcenter of organisation's activity
Swedish högkvarter, huvudkvarter
- högkvartermilitary installation
- huvudkvartercenter of organisation's activity
- högkvartercenter of organisation's activity
Tagalog punong himpilan, punong tanggapan
- punong himpilanmilitary installation
- punong tanggapanmilitary installation
- punong himpilancenter of organisation's activity
- punong tanggapancenter of organisation's activity
Thai กองบัญชาการ, บ.ก.
- กองบัญชาการ (gɔɔng-ban-chaa-gaan)military installation
- บ.ก. (bɔɔ.gɔɔ.)military installation
- สำนักงานใหญ่center of organisation's activity
Turkish karargâh
- karargâhmilitary installation
Ukrainian штаб, штаб-кварти́ра
- штаб (štab)military installation
- штаб-кварти́ра (štab-kvartýra)military installation
Urdu ہیڈ کُوارْٹَر, مَرْکَزی دَفْتَر
- ہیڈ کُوارْٹَر (heḍ kuārṭar)military installation
- مَرْکَزی دَفْتَر (markazī daftar)military installation
- صَدْر دَفْتَر (sadr daftar)military installation
- قَرار گاہ (qarār gāh)military installation
Vietnamese tổng hành dinh, trụ sở
- tổng hành dinhmilitary installation
- trụ sởcenter of organisation's activity
- trung tâmplace
Cite this entry
APA
headquarters. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/headquarters
MLA
“headquarters.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/headquarters. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “headquarters,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/headquarters.
Source: headquarters on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.