headman
Americannoun
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anthropol a chief or leader
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a foreman or overseer
Etymology
Origin of headman
before 1000; Middle English he ( ve ) dman, Old English hēafodman. See head, man
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The most endearing among them is Ismail Altıntoprak, the muhtar, or elected headman, of Karagümrük.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
Heimonmi Shylla, headman of the hamlet with about 500 households and a deacon, says almost all residents are Presbyterian, Catholic or members of the Church of God.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 17, 2024
In 2016, a village headman who also doubled up as a driver, was taking around a team of University of Kerala archaeology students when he showed them the site.
From BBC • Oct. 5, 2023
The village is deemed "at risk" by Fiji's government and headman Josevata Nagausaukula contemplates a future in which children now honing their rugby skills have been shifted, with their families, to higher ground inland.
From Reuters • Jul. 25, 2022
He would be able to take the headman there and show him the place.
From "The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa" by Alexander Mccall Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
