HEADWORD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does headword mean? 

• HEADWORD (noun)
  The noun HEADWORD has 2 senses:

1. a content word that can be qualified by a modifier

2. a word placed at the beginning of a line or paragraph (as in a dictionary entry)

  Familiarity information: HEADWORD used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HEADWORD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A content word that can be qualified by a modifier

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

head word; headword

Hypernyms ("headword" is a kind of...):

content word; open-class word (a word to which an independent meaning can be assigned)

Holonyms ("headword" is a part of...):

phrase (an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A word placed at the beginning of a line or paragraph (as in a dictionary entry)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("headword" is a kind of...):

word (a unit of language that native speakers can identify)

Holonyms ("headword" is a part of...):

dictionary entry; lexical entry (the entry in a dictionary of information about a word)