Etymologically
Log in

warhead

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word warhead

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1890 Hampshire Telegraph & Sussex Chronicle More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origins
Old Northern French werreProto-Germanic *haubud
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English war
English warhead
From the same root
English warfare ← war
English warlike ← war
English warlord ← war
English warship ← war

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈwɔːhed/[1]
  • US: /ˈwɔːrhed/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English war + head,[2][3][4][1] originally for the live head of a torpedo, as distinct from an inert practice head.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The explosive front section of a torpedo: 1890, in the Hampshire Telegraph & Sussex Chronicle.[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster give 1898,[3][5][6] and Dictionary.com 1895–1900.[4]

Semantic evolution

The word was first used of torpedoes and was later applied to the explosive tip of any missile, by 1944.[3] The OED notes that it now usually means a warhead whose destructive power comes from a nuclear weapon,[2] and the American Heritage Dictionary includes heads carrying high explosive, chemical or biological agents, or inert material.[7] In British cricket slang of the 1990s a warhead was a fast bowler.[8]

Timeline

  • 1890 – the explosive forward section of a torpedo.[2]
  • 1944 – the explosive tip of any missile.[3]
  • 1996 – cricket slang, a fast bowler.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The front part of a missile, torpedo, rocket or other munition that carries the explosive, nuclear, chemical or biological charge: The submarine carried missiles with multiple warheads.[7][6][2][5]
  2. (cricket, slang) A fast bowler.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ a b c Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
Cite this entry

“Warhead.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/warhead. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·