Where does “redhead” come from?
Redhead derives from English red and English head, tracing through Proto-Germanic raudaz meaning reddish and Proto-Indo-European kret- relating to color or appearance.
redhead (English): A person with red hair
Definitions
- A person with red hair
Ancestry of “redhead”, step by step
redhead traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Red
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Red | A Communist; A supporter of a sports team who... |
| 2 | English | rede | Help, advice, counsel; Decision, a plan; To... |
| 3 | Middle English | reden | to counsel, advise; to study; to read |
| 4 | Old English | rǣdan | to read, interpret; to counsel, advise; plot,... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | rādan | to advise, counsel, help; to devise, decide,... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | rēdaną | to decide, advise |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | Hreh₁dʰ- | to think; to arrange; to succeed, accomplish |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂reh₁- | to think, reason; to arrange |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂er- | to fit, to fix, to put together |
via English head
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | head | The part of the body of an animal or human which... |
| 2 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |