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headnote

American  
[hed-noht] / ˈhɛdˌnoʊt /

noun

  1. a brief summary, comment, or explanation that precedes a chapter, report, etc.


Etymology

Origin of headnote

First recorded in 1850–55; head + note


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.

See Examples For:

But it also reflects the way recipes are often treated as modular — headnote, ingredients, directions — rather than as a single narrative with a beginning, middle and end.

From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2025

“He said the wording on the method isn’t the same, there is no similarity on the headnote — tough luck,” said Ms. Martin, who is now a freelance editor.

From New York Times ● Nov. 29, 2021

As hacky and boring as a given “meditation on my lemon tree” headnote may be, complaining about it online is—in the blessed year of 2020—even hackier.

From Slate ● Feb. 20, 2020

As the headnote points out, it’s quite an ordeal: “David says, ‘Just don’t do it.’

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 19, 2018

Parenthetical Roman numerals do not correspond to the editor’s section headings, but the text summary is generally similar to the appropriate headnote.

From Early English Alliterative Poems in the West-Midland Dialect of the Fourteenth Century by Richard Morris

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