headless

English

Etymology

Etymology tree
substratebor.?
Proto-Indo-European *kap-?
Proto-Indo-European *kap-
Proto-Indo-European *káput
Proto-Germanic *haubudąder.
Proto-Germanic *haubidą
Proto-West Germanic *haubid
Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der.
Proto-Germanic *leusaną
Proto-Germanic *lausaz
Proto-Germanic *-lausaz
Proto-West Germanic *-laus
Proto-West Germanic *haubidalaus
Old English hēafodlēas
Middle English heedles
English headless

    From Middle English heedles, hevedles, from Old English hēafodlēas (“headless”), equivalent to head +‎ -less. Cognate with Dutch hoofdloos (“headless”), Danish hovedløs (“headless”), Swedish huvudlös (“headless”), Icelandic höfuðlaus (“headless”). Piecewise doublet of chefless and chiefless.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈhɛdləs/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
    • Rhymes: -ɛdləs

    Adjective

    headless (not comparable)

    1. Without a head (body part).
      1. Synonym of decapitated.
        Synonyms: beheaded, deheaded
        How did the headless horseman see to chase Ichabod?
      2. Naturally having and needing no head.
        headless invertebrates
    2. Without a head (hardware or device feature).
      Synonym: unheaded
      a headless nail;   a headless set screw
    3. Without leadership.
      Synonym: leaderless
      Coordinate term: rudderless
      The headless army blundered along after the death of their general, accomplishing nothing.
      • 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):
        His forsaken soldiers, being now a headless company, and no longer an army to be feared, obtained nevertheless a reasonable composition from the Carthaginians […]
    4. (linguistics, of a phrase or compound) Not having a head morpheme or word.
    5. (computing) Running without a graphical user interface; running without any attached output device (e.g., monitor) or input device (e.g., keyboard, mouse).
      • 2003, William Boswell, Inside Windows Server 2003, Addison-Wesley, →ISBN, page 62:
        /redirect. Used for console redirection in headless servers.
      • 2007, Carla Schroder, Linux Networking Cookbook, O’Reilly Media, published 2008, →ISBN, page 47:
        Routers typically run headless, without a keyboard or monitor.
      • 2010, Charles Bell et al., MySQL High Availability: Tools for Building Robust Data Centers, O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 278:
        This is not unexpected for a Windows system running as a virtual machine or a headless server, […]
    6. (of beer) Without a head of foam.
    7. (obsolete) Heedless.
      • 1579, E. K. (Edward Kirke?), Notes on Spenser’s The Shepheardes Calender
        If any one will rashly blame such his choice of old and unwonted words, him may I more justly blame and condemn, either of witless headiness in judging, or of headless hardiness in condemning.
      • 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC:
        THENOT: Cuddy, I wot thou kenſt little Good, / So vainly to advance thy headleſs Hood.
    8. (obsolete, firearms) Rimless, not having a cartridge case rim (flange).
      A headless shell doesn't have a flange.

    Derived terms

    Translations

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