See also: hede and hedé

Middle English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Old English *-hǣd, -hād, *-hǣdu, from Proto-Germanic *haiduz. Compare hod.

The shift of the vowel from /ɔː/ to /oː/ is unexpected. Compare with a similar change in two and who (though in those cases, it is due to the influence of preceding /w/).

Pronunciation edit

  • (Early ME, Northern ME) IPA(key): /hɑːd/
  • IPA(key): /hɛːd/, /hɔːd/
  • (Late ME) IPA(key): /hoːd/

Suffix edit

-hede

  1. Affixed to nouns and adjectives to form nouns denoting position, quality, state, condition or collectivity.

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

  • English: -hood, -head
  • Scots: -heid

See also edit

References edit