Where does “headhunt” come from?
headhunt (English) comes from English headhunter, from English Hunter, from Middle English huntere, from Middle English hunten, from Cimbrian hunt, from Middle High German hunt, from Old High German hunt, from Proto-West Germanic hund — dog.
headhunt (English): To cut off, and preserve, the heads of one's...
Definitions
- To cut off, and preserve, the heads of one's...
Ancestry of “headhunt”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | headhunter | A person who practises headhunting, the taking... |
| 2 | English | Hunter | for a hunter |
| 3 | Middle English | huntere | A hunter; a (male) person who hunts animals |
| 4 | Middle English | hunten | to hunt |
| 5 | Cimbrian | hunt | dog |
| 6 | Middle High German | hunt | dog (Canis familiaris) |
| 7 | Old High German | hunt | dog |
| 8 | Proto-West Germanic | hund | dog |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | hundaz | dog |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱwn̥tós | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱwṓ | dog |