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headband

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Etymology and origin of the English word headband

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1522 before 1522, Douglas's translation of Virgil's Aeneid More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origins
Proto-Germanic *haubudOld Norse band
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Old English hēafod
English head
English headband
From the same root
English ahead ← head
English dickhead ← head
English headland ← head
English headmaster ← head
English headphone ← head
English redhead ← head

Pronunciation

  • /ˈhɛdˌbænd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English head + band.[2][3][4][5] The OED compares equivalent compounds in other Germanic languages: Old Saxon hōvidband (“band worn around the head”), Middle Dutch hōvetbant (“diadem”), Old High German houbitband (“band worn around the head, garland, crown”), Old Norse hǫfuðband and Old Swedish hofudhband, as well as Old English hēafodbend (“fillet, diadem, crown”), which has the second element bend.[2] The sense "halter" was partly modelled on Latin capistrum (“halter”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A band worn round the head: before 1522, in Douglas's translation of Virgil's Aeneid.[2] Merriam-Webster's Unabridged gives about 1522,[3] Etymonline the 1530s,[4] and the Collegiate 1535.[6]

Semantic evolution

Later senses name other bands, many of them at the top of something.[2] Bookbinders' use is recorded from Cotgrave (1611).[2] Johnson (1755) gave only that sense and "a fillet for the head; a topknot", quoting Isaiah: "The Lord will take away the bonnets, and the headbands".[7] From the 17th century it also named the band at the top of a garment, a waistband, until the 19th century,[2] and the headgear of a horse.[2] Later technical uses include the moulding of an arch, or archivolt (1723);[2] part of a printing press (1825);[2] the band of a device worn on the head, from 1881 and now especially joining a pair of earphones;[2][3] and in printing, chiefly in the United States, an ornament at the head of a page or chapter (1893).[2]

Timeline

  • before 1522 – a band worn round the head.[2]
  • 1611 – in bookbinding, a band fastened at the head or tail of a book's spine, in Cotgrave.[2]
  • 1675 – a band at the top of an undergarment; a waistband (obsolete after 1880).[2]
  • 1704 – a halter, or a part of a bridle fitting round an animal's head.[2]
  • 1707 – verb, to fasten headbands on a book.[3]
  • 1723 – in architecture, a band of mouldings on an arch.[2]
  • 1825 – a thin iron bar of a printing press's tympan (obsolete after 1890).[2]
  • 1881 – a band holding an earpiece or other device on the head.[2]
  • 1893 – an engraving or other ornament at the head of a page or chapter.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A band or strip worn round the head, for decoration or to keep hair or sweat off the face: a runner in a white headband.[8][3][2]
  2. The band that joins a pair of earphones, or holds another device on the head.[3][2]
  3. In bookbinding, a narrow strip of cloth attached to the top or bottom of a book's spine, for protection or decoration.[8][3][2]
  4. (printing) A decorative band or engraving at the head of a page or chapter.[9][3][5][2]
  5. Any of the parts of a bridle or halter that fit over or round an animal's head.[2]
  6. (architecture, rare) An archivolt.[3][2]
  7. (obsolete, 1675–1880) A band round the top of trousers or an undergarment; a waistband.[2][10]
  8. (obsolete, 1825–90) A thin iron bar forming one side of the tympan of a printing press.[2][10]

Verb

  1. To fasten headbands on a book.[3]
  • head
  • band
  • headstall
  • headpiece
  • footband
  • tailband

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ a b The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
Cite this entry

“Headband.” Etymologically, 5 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/headband. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.

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