-hede

See also: hede and hedé

Middle English

Alternative forms

-hed, -hyede, -hiede, -heed, -hode, -hod, -hood, -hoode, -hade, -had, -ed, -ood, -hote, -hot, -hoþ, -wood

Etymology

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

(Early Middle English, Northern) IPA^(key): /hɑːd/
IPA^(key): /hɛːd/, /hɔːd/
(Late Middle English) IPA^(key): /hoːd/

Suffix

-hede

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

Derived terms

Middle English terms suffixed with -hede

Descendants

English: -hood, -head
Scots: -heid

References

“-hed(e, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 22 June 2018.