noun
Meaning 1
A chief person; a head man
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Scotland, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
headsman
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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CMU ARPABET: HH EH1 D Z M AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
An executioner whose method of dispatching the condemned is decapitation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A labourer in a colliery who transports the coal from the workings to the horseway, and who is oftentimes assisted by a younger worker called a foal.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
Topics: business, mining
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
One in command of a whaling vessel.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: nautical, transport
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
an executioner who beheads the condemned person
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: headman
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: executioner, public executioner
History
Etymology
From Middle English heddysman, equivalent to head + -s- + -man. Cognate with Scots hedisman, heidisman (“head man; chief; commander”). Compare also Danish høvedsmand (“captain”), Swedish hövitsman (“captain”), Icelandic höfuðsmaður (“captain”), German Hauptmann (“captain”).
Across languages
Translations
9 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: جَلَّاد (jallād) — An executioner
- Bulgarian: палач (palač) — An executioner
- Etruscan: 𐌋𐌀𐌍𐌉𐌔𐌕𐌀 class (lanista) — An executioner
- German: Scharfrichter — An executioner
- Greek: αποκεφαλιστής (apokefalistís) — An executioner
- Italian: carnefice — An executioner
- Macedonian: главосек (glavosek) — An executioner
- Swedish: skarprättare — An executioner
- Tagalog: mamumugot — An executioner
Real reading context