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headman Definition

head·man (hedmən, -man′)

noun pl. -·men-mən, -men′

  1. a leader, chief, or overseer
  2. Rare a headsman

Etymology: ME hevidmon < OE heafodmann

headman Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • village: The headman of a village is the oldest male of the dominant subclan.

Possessives

  • house: Pretty as a picture The pilgrims are welcomed to a village headman's house.
  • family: The nucleus of a commoner Bemba village consists of the headman's matrilocal extended family.
  • ax: Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell, whose convictions and policies could scarcely have been more different, both perished beneath the headman's ax.
  • relative: The matrilineal relatives of the subclan that owns the village, the headman's relatives, are the nobility.

Adjective modifier

  • own: All villages are subdivided into hamlets, each with its own headman, an indigenous office.
  • local: The local headman pointed out to us an overgrown site telling the tale that it was a Japanese war cemetery.
  • tribal: It is interesting to see that the duties of the tribal headman in Freetown were almost identical.
  • traditional: The values of obscurantist mullahs, traditional village headmen and gun-toting banditry replaced those of national equality, women's liberation and secularism.
  • young: Without such support a young headman could not entertain.

Noun used with modifier

  • village: The ten village headmen drank the holy water to seal their pledge to protect the forest.
  • hamlet: The hamlet headmen do not, therefore constitute any serious threat to the position of the patriclan Avat.

Browse dictionary entries near headman

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