headword

American  

[hed-wurd] / ˈhɛdˌwɜrd /

noun

headwords plural

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

2. catchword.

3. head.

---

headword British  

/ ˈhɛdˌwɜːd /

noun

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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• headwords
  plural

Etymology

Origin of headword

First recorded in 1815–25; head + word

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

headword headwords

Entries include lots of disparate parts: headword, pronunciation, cross-references, example sentences, etymology.

From Slate ● Mar. 26, 2020

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

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2021

In 1928, the finished dictionary was eventually published: some 414,800 headwords and phrases in 10 volumes, each with a definition, etymology and 1.8m quotations tracking usage over time.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 23, 2018

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

From A Concise Dictionary of Middle English From A.D. 1150 to 1580 by Mayhew, A. L. (Anthony Lawson)

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

From A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary For the Use of Students by Hall, J. R. Clark (John R. Clark)