headword

[hed-wurd]

noun

1. a word, phrase, or the like, appearing as the heading heading of a chapter, dictionary or encyclopedia entry, etc.

2. catchword.

3. head.

headword

/ ˈhɛdˌwɜːd /

noun

1. a key word placed at the beginning of a line, paragraph, etc, as in a dictionary entry

Word History and Origins

Origin of headword¹

First recorded in 1815–25; head + word

Example Sentences

Ghost words have nothing to do with otherworldly apparitions, but they're enough to scare the headwords off lexicographers.

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Because the Oxford English Dictionary is edited and published in England, British forms take precedence: in the online dictionary, it appears under the headword Covid-19.

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A dictionary is really a database; it has fields for headword, pronunciation, etymology, definition, and in the case of historical dictionaries like the OED, citations of past usages.

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Since both headwords have a long vowel, the cross-reference was changed to match.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Yogh is used in dictionary headwords; the others occur only in etymologies.

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