Where does “headstart” come from?

headstart (English) comes from English Start, from English Stark, from German stark, from Middle High German stark, from Old High German stark, from Proto-Germanic starkuz, from Proto-Germanic sterkaną, from Proto-Indo-European sterg- — rigid, stiff; to love.

Ancestry of “headstart”, step by step

headstart traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Start

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishStartA typical button for video games, originally used...
2EnglishStarkThe language spoken in the Ender's Game series,...
3Germanstarkstrong; great, brilliant, awesome
4Middle High Germanstark
5Old High Germanstarkstrong
6Proto-Germanicstarkuzstiff; rigid; strong
7Proto-Germanicsterkanąto become stiff, stiffen
8Proto-Indo-Europeansterg-rigid, stiff; to love

via English head

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishheadThe part of the body of an animal or human which...
2English-yAdded to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives...
3Middle English-yDesignates an adjective, in many cases formed by...
4Old English-iġ-y, -ic
5Proto-West Germanic-gForms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a...
6Proto-Germanic-gaz-y
7Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sterg-Every word from Proto-Germanic sterkanąEvery word from Proto-Germanic starkuz