headword

English

Alternative forms

head word

Etymology

From head +‎ word. Compare West Frisian haadwurd (“noun, substantive, headword”), Dutch hoofdwoord (“headword”), German Hauptwort (“noun, substantive, headword”), Swedish huvudord (“headword, keyword”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛdwɜːd/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛdwɝd/

Noun

headword (plural headwords)

A word used as the title of a section, particularly in a dictionary, encyclopedia, or thesaurus.
(grammar) Any word which may be modified by an adjunct.
In "a very discerning car shopper", "shopper" is the headword.

Synonyms

(grammar): head

Translations

word used as the title of a section

Armenian: գլխաբառ (hy) (glxabaṙ)
Catalan: entrada (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 標題字／标题字 (biāodìzì)
Dutch: trefwoord (nl) n
Esperanto: kapvorto
Finnish: hakusana (fi)
French: mot vedette (fr) m, vedette (fr) f
Georgian: სასათაურო სიტყვა (sasatauro siṭq̇va), ვოკაბულა (voḳabula)
German: Stichwort (de) n, Schlagwort (de) n, Stichpunkt (de) m
Hungarian: címszó (hu)
Italian: voce (it) f
Japanese: 見出し語 (みだしご, midashigo)
Latvian: šķirklis m
Norwegian: oppslagsord n
Polish: hasło (pl) n
Portuguese: entrada (pt) f
Romanian: cuvânt-titlu (ro) n
Russian: загла́вное сло́во n (zaglávnoje slóvo)
Scottish Gaelic: ceannfhacal m
Spanish: lema (es) m, entrada (es) f, palabra principal f
Swahili: kidahizo (sw)
Swedish: uppslagsord (sv) n, stickord (sv) n
Welsh: prifair m

word modified by an adjunct

Finnish: pääsana (fi); jälkiosa (in a compound term)
Hungarian: főtag, alaptag, fej (hu)