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Anglo-Saxon

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heáfod

  • noun [ neuter ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
heáfod, gen. heáfdes; dat. heáfde; pl. heáfdu [v. Ælfc. Gr. 15; Som. 18, 21-25]
Wright's OE grammar
§5; §10; §135; §172; §216; §221; §293; §299; §325; §347; §350;
HEAD, chief, source, 'the commencing point, or the highest point, of a stream, of a field, hill, etc. In reference to running water, the head is exactly converse to the gemýðe or mouths. In the Saxon charters the word is of frequent occurrence, and, as it seems, generally to denote rising grounds. It is hardly distinguishable from the compound words and-heáfod, on-heáfod; Cod. Dipl. Kmbl, iii. xxix
Show examples

  • Ðis forweard heáfod

    hæc frons,

      Ælfc. Gr. 9, 39; Som. 12, 60: Wrt. Voc. 70, 28: Homl. Th. ii. 266, 11.

  • Æfteweard hæfod occiput vel postea: ofer healf heáfod

    sinciput,

      Ælfc. Gl. 69; Som. 70, 35, 36; Wrt. Voc. 42, 43, 44.

  • Healf heáfod

    hoc sinciput,

      Ælfc. Gr. 9, 78; Som. 14, 24.

  • Cúþ is ðæt se áwyrgda gást is heáfod ealra unrihtwísra dǽda, swylce unrihtwíse syndon deófles leomo

    it is known that the accursed spirit is the source of all unrighteous deeds, as also unrighteous men are members of the devil,

      Blickl. Homl. 33, 7.

  • Hine ðe wæs ǽrur heáfod tó ðam unrǽde

    the man that had before been the author of that mischief,

      Chr. 1087; Erl. 225, 10.

  • Heáfod ealra heáhgesceafta

    the chief of all exalted creatures,

      Cd. 1; Th. i. 7; Gen. 4: Hy. 7, 62; Hy. Grn. ii. 287, 62.

  • Hé getimbrede ða burg Babylonie tó ðon ðæt heó wǽre heáfod ealra Asiria

    Babyloniam urbem instauravit, caputque regni Assyrii ut esset instituit,

      Ors. 2, 1; Swt. 60, 14.

  • Stæfes heáfud

    apicem,

      Lk. Skt. Lind. 16, 17.

  • Wið healfes, heáfdes ece

    for megrim,

      L. M. 1, 1; Lchdm. ii. 20, 14, 17, 21.

  • Þolige hé heáfdes

    let him lose his head,

      L. Edg. S. 11; Th. i. 276, 13.

  • His heáfdes segl

    his head's sun [the eye],

      Andr. Kmbl. 100; An. 50.

  • His eágan hálge heáfdes gimmas

    his eyes, his head's holy gems,

      Exon. 51 b; Th. 180, 7; Gú. 1276.

  • Hát mé heáfde beceorfan

    order my head to be cut off,

      Blickl. Homl. 183, 16.

  • Wið tóbrocenum heáfde

    for a broken head,

      L. M. 1, 1; Lchdm. ii. 22, 10.

  • On ðam heáfde foran

    on the forehead,

      2, 64; Lchdm. ii. 288, 22: 65; Lchdm. ii. 290, 23.

  • His heáfod forweard mid ðære hálgan róde tácne gewǽpnige

    let him arm his head in front with the sign of the holy rood,

      L. E. I. 29; Th. ii. 426, 8.

  • Wé sceolon fyligan úrum Heáfde and faran fram deófle tó Criste

    we ought to follow our Head, and pass from the devil to Christ,

      Homl. Th. ii. 282, 20.

  • Ic ðé gesette eallum Israhélum tó heáfde

    caput te constitui in tribubus Israel,

      Past. 17, 4; Swt. 113, 10.

  • Ðú settest ús mænige men ofer heáfod

    imposuisti homines super capita nostra,

      Ps. Th. 65, 10.

  • Hér Offa hét Æþelbryhte ðæt heáfod ofásleán

    in this year Offa ordered Ethelbert's head to be struck off,

      Chr. 792; Erl. 58, 2.

  • Búton hé healde iii niht hýde and heáfod

    unless he keep the hide and head three nights,

      L. Eth. iii. 9; Th. i. 296, 18.

  • Fare seó buruhwaru sylf tó and begyte ða banan cuce oððe deáde heora nýhstan mágas, heáfod wið heáfde

    let the burghers themselves go and get the murderers, living or dead, or their nearest kinsmen, head for head,

    ii.
      6; Th. i. 286, 32.

  • Æt ðam óðran cyrre ne sý ðǽr nán óðer bót bútan ðæt heáfod

    the second time let there be no other reparation than the head,

    i.
      1, 2; Th. i. 282, 2, 23.

  • Heáfdas feónda

    capita inimicorum suorum,

      Ps. Th. 67, 21.

  • Hie heora heáfdu slógan on ða wagas

    they struck their heads against the walls,

      Blickl. Homl. 151, 5.

  • Hý habbaþ hunda heáfda

    they have dogs' heads,

      Nar. 34, 32.

  • Ða heáfda wǽran ofácorfena

    the heads were cut off,

      Ors. 4, 1; Bos. 79, 7.

  • Nim ðes leáces heáfda

    take the heads of this leek,

      Lchdm. i. 376, 3.

  • Heáfdu,

      L. M. 2, 32; Lchdm. ii. 234, 20.

  • Of Godes half and ealre hádode heáfde

    on behalf of God and of all persons in orders,

      Chr. 675; Erl. 37, 25: 963; Erl. 123, 15.

  • Swá swá heó on dæg déþ bufan úrum heáfdum

    as by day it does above our heads,

      Lchdm, iii. 234, 25.

  • Ðone stán ðeæt his heáfdum læg

    the stone that lay at his head,

      Past. 16, 3; Swt. 101, 16.

  • Ðá cóman ðyder tu wild deór and heóldan ðone líchoman óðer æt ðǽm heáfðum óðer æt ðǽm fótum

    then came thither two wild beasts and guarded the body, one at the head, the other at the feet,

      Shrn. 83, 25: Rood Kmbl. 126; Kr. 63.

  • Heáfdan,

      Blickl. Homl. 145, 26.
  • [Laym. heaved, hæfed: Orm. hæfedd: A. R. heaved: Piers P. Chauc. Wick. hed, heed. The cognate dialects seem to offer two forms, differing in the root vowel, each of which may be represented in the English. Thus heáfod may compare with Goth. haubiþ: O. Sax. hóƀid: O. H. Ger. haupit, houbit; while hæfod,,]
Linked entries
v.  hæfd hafud heáfd up-heáfod heófad.
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “heáfod.” In An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online, edited by Thomas Northcote Toller, Christ Sean, and Ondřej Tichy. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2014. https://bosworthtoller.com/18245.

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  • heáfod, n.

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