Definition of HEADSMAN

headsman

Plural: headsmen

Noun

  • an executioner who beheads the condemned person
  • A chief person; a head man
  • An executioner whose method of dispatching the condemned is decapitation.
  • 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.
  • One in command of a whaling vessel.
  • pl. -MEN an executioner

Origin / 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”).

Scrabble Score: 14

headsman: valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
headsman: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
headsman: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 15

headsman is a valid Words With Friends word