认知视域下多义词“head”词义扩展机制研究
A Cognitive Study on Sense Extension Mechanism of Polysemous Word head
学 院： 外国语学院
专 业： 外国语言学与应用语言学
学 号：
学生姓名：
指导教师：
2015 年 12 月 20 日Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction.................................................................. 1
1.1 Research Background......................................................................1
1.2 Purpose of the Study........................................................................2
1.3 Significance of the Study.................................................................2
1.4Terminology......................................................................................3
1.5 Layout of the Thesis........................................................................ 3
Chapter 2 Literature Review.........................................................5
2.1 Previous Studies of Polysemy......................................................... 5
2.1.1 Studies of Structuralism on Polysemy................................... 5
2.1.2 Cognitive Studies of Polysemy.............................................. 6
2.2 Previous Cognitive Studies of “head” or “tou” Polysemy..............8
2.3 Limitations of Previous Studies...................................................... 9
Chapter 3 Methodology................................................................10
3.1 Research Questions........................................................................10
3.2 Process of the Study...................................................................... 10
3.2.1 Procedures to Answer Question 1........................................ 10
3.2.2 Procedures to Answer Question 2........................................ 11
3.2.3 Procedures to Answer Question 3........................................ 14
3.3 Limitations of the Study................................................................ 17
Bibliography.....................................................................................19
Appendix...........................................................................................211
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Research Background
Language is the most important means by which people communicate with each
other. A word usually has only one meaning when it first appears. Aristotle once
mentioned that the number of words in a natural language is limited while the number
of objects in the real world is unlimited. It does not make sense if one word carries
only one meaning. Thus it is inevitable for a word to be polysemous. Polysemy is
considered to be a necessary means of language economy. Actually adding new senses
to the already existing words is the most economical way to satisfy people’s needs of
expression with the development of the society, which is much more convenient than
creating new words or borrowing words from other languages. Polysemy is a general
phenomenon in almost all human languages. Polysemy is the result of the changes of
the word meanings.
The famous ancient Greek philosopher Protagoras once said "Man is the measure
of all things." Human beings experience things through their body. There is also a
similar saying"taken from body nearly and from materials far" in Chinese
The Book of Changes, which shows that thoughts can not be separated from human
experience. The human body is the earliest entity that people exposure and recognize.
Therefore, the study of the human body terms is similar to that of meta concept of
human cognition. There is no doubt that the investigation of human body terms’
evolution contributes to investigate human cognition and human thinking. Vocabulary
is the basic unit of speech, and the meaning is the core of the word. The study of
meaning is one of the most important means to study language. The meaning of body
terms is the core elements of words meaning. On the one hand, word meaning
changes with the development of society and human cognition, thus meaning owns
the characteristics of variability; on the other hand, to maintain the normal
communication between people, meaning has to be stable. Stability and variability2
forms a contradiction, which keeps a state of balance.
From the above, it should be noted that it is of great importance to study the
polysemous phenomenon in linguistics. This thesis tries to explore the polysemous
mechanism from the cognitive perspective by studying the polysemous word of head.
1.2 Purpose of the Study
Since the emergence of cognitive linguistics in 1970s, scholars have studied
polysemy and provide a systematic explanation of polysemy based on the
experientialism. Researches have mainly been done from the perspectives of
metaphor and metonymy and image schema.
This study is carried out with English word “head” as the case, studying the
polysemous mechanism with the framework of cognitive linguistics. The main
objective of the this study is to explore how the extended senses arise from the
original sense, which includes the following purposes:
First, this thesis is to find out the senses of “head”. Second, it aims at exploring
the senses relations by making a detailed analysis of all the senses of head. Finally, it
describes the cognitive mechanism of extended senses of “head” through the senses
relation.
1.3 Significance of the Study
The present study is intended to provide a detailed description of the formation
of extended senses of head and illustrate the mechanism of polysemy. Detailed and
comprehensive analysis contributes to the explore of laws of senses change, which
helps to the systematic study of laws of senses change. Theoretically, this thesis can
further prove that the cognitive approach is more powerful and effective in explaining
polysemy.
In addition, the cognitive mechanism to polysemy has practical significance.3
Polysemous teaching and learning has always been the difficulty for teachers and
students. If teachers knows the mechanism of polysemous words and apply to
language teaching, students can be enlightened to cultivate their lexical
comprehension ability and hence to promote their lexical ability. As for language
learners, it is much more convenient for them to master polysemous words if they
they understand the internal relations between senses of polysemous words.
1.4Terminology
Baugh and Cable(1993:2)once mentioned“old words die out, new words are
added, and existing words change their sense.” Taylor (2001:99)defined polysemy
as“the association of two or more related senses with a single linguistic form.
According to Fromkin (1998), polyserny referred to a word that had multiple senses
related conceptually or historically. Words in a language carrying more than one sense
are called polysemes. Heine(1997)tried to define polysemy by means of three criteria:
a.There are two or more different but related senses.
b.These senses are associated with one linguistic form only.
e.The linguistic form belongs to one and the same morpho-syntactic category in
its uses.
In this thesis, such definition of “polysemy”, is adopted that“a single
morphological form with more than one historically or presently related senses.
1.5 Layout of the Thesis
This thesis will be divided into five chapters. Chapter one serves as the
introduction of the thesis which states the background, the purpose, the significance
and layout of the thesis. Chapter two is the literature review which is expected to
present previous related studies on polysemy. This chapter consists of some past
researches on polysemy and “head” polysemy. Chapter three focuses on the4
methodology, which raises the research question and provide solutions to answer the
questions. The case of “head” is conducted to explore how the prototypical sense is
extended to its other senses. Chapter four is data analysis which analyzes how the
word “head” changed into a polysemous word by means of cognitive perspectives:
metaphor metonymy and image schema, mental space, conceptual blending. Chapter
five draws the conclusion of the thesis which states the major findings and the
generative mechanism of polysemy.5
Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 Previous Studies of Polysemy
2.1.1 Studies of Structuralism on Polysemy
Structuralism made profoundly influential studies on semantics. (Taylor,
1999:46-60）Structural semantics has drawn its inspiration from Saussure who put
forward the idea that the link between the signifier and the signified is, in the first
place, arbitrary in the sense that there is no inherent association between sound and
meaning. Saussure went further and held that it is not only the signifier-signified
relation that was arbitrary, the signifiers and the signifieds in any given language are
themselves arbitrary.
There are some other linguists who have given their views about polysemy.
Geoffery Leech in his Semantics believed that polysemous words were generated by
lexical rules, e.g., the rule of metaphoric transfer, “this definition gains substance
from the recognition that lexical rules have psychological reality, to the extent that
they are part of the native speakers’ linguistic competence” (Leech, 1983:228-229).
F.R Palmer admitted the fuzzy border of different meanings of a linguistic form and
metaphoric device for semantic extension, but he gave up his research by saying “it is
very difficult to decide whether there is any central or core meaning” (Palmer,
1986:100).
Semantic field was first put forward by German scholar Jost Trier in 1930s. His
proposal of field theory is influenced by the view of F.de Saussure. Trier insists that
senses of words should be semantically correlated. The semantic change of a word
should be not separately studied researched but in the semantic system with different
words. Words have their own senses only as “part of a whole” . Words have their
senses only in the presence of the semantic environment so called semantic field.
Structuralism also stressed the synchronicity of semantics. The polysemy of6
words refers to a phenomenon that a variety of senses coexist in the evolution of
meaning. The coexistence of multiple senses constitute a sense network. There is a
core sense and inequality between other senses. "From the point of structuralism, this
polymer is a network model based on the standard properties of glossemes "(Zhang
Zhiyi, Zhang Qingyun, 2012)
Polysemy explanation of semantic field is caused by semantic synchronicity due
to field semantic change, which do not illustrate the relationship between the senses
and rules and mechanism of senses. Due to the change of vocabulary, it is impossible
to do research on all the words, therefore, polysemy can not be explained from
structuralist perspective. Just as Marina Rakova(2004) points out, polysemy
phenomenon can not be well interpreted in semantic field theory.
It is obvious that structural semantics provides an invaluable tool in explaining
semantic change and polysemy. The distinctive contribution of structuralism is to
have pointed out that the changes in the language system, which are specified at the
level of the language-determined linguistic meaning. However, focusing on structural
relations alone can illustrate little about the mechanism of language change and the
existence of polysemy.
2.1.2 Cognitive Studies of Polysemy
Linguists who follow Saussure study semantic from the internal structure of
language , holding the inner structure view, while Chomsky advocates to describe
semantic from the mental viewpoint, holding inner mental view. Both of them try to
explain semantic from internal language, which ignores the influence of the external
environment. However, cognitive linguistic try to explain semantic from the external
environment of language and the language users. According to Ungerer and
Schmid(2001:F36), cognitive linguistics is an approach to language that is based on
our experience of the world and the way we perceive conceptualize it.
As the representatives of cognitive linguistic, Johnson and Lakoff believe that
semantic is based on human experience and cognition. In recent years, with the7
development of cognitive linguistic, more and more scholars study polysemy in
cognitive linguistic.
Scholars at home and abroad have done cognitive researches on polysemy
mainly from prototype, categorization, image schema, metaphor, metonymy and so on.
Most of the cognitive researches on polysemy are done from the metaphor perspective.
Since the Lakoff &Johnson’s publish of Metaphors We Live by, Johnson(1987),
Lakoff(1987), Lakoff&Turner(1989), Lakoff(1993), Lakoff&Johnson(1999),
Goossens(1990), Goossens(1995), Croft(1993), Taylor(1995), Taylor(2002),
Barcelona(2000), Landa(1996), NingYu(2000), NingYu(2001), NingYu(2007) do
metaphorical researches on polysemy.
Meanwhile, Chinese scholars introduce the foreign research achievements and do
researches on this field. They have made great breakthroughs. Su Dingfang(2000),
Zhang Pei(2004), Liu Zhengguang(2007), Hu Zhuanglin(2004), Chen Jiaxu(2007)
and so on have published monographs on metaphor.
A lot of researches have been carried out by many cognitive linguists.
Brugman(1981) and Lindner(1981) have a detailed study of the polysemous word
“over” by image-schematic analysis and successfully uncover the motivation and
order behind previously random-looking groupings of senses. Lakoff(1987) attributes
the phenomenon of polysemy to the principle of metaphorical mapping of image
schema. In his network-style model, the senses of a word are reduced to one central
sense, while its other senses are believed to be evolved from the central sense or as
metaphorical senses of the central one. Taylor(2001) studies polysemy based on
prototype theory and concludes that if different uses of a lexical item require reference
to two different domains, or two different sets of domains, it is a strong indication that
the lexical item is polysemous. Sweetser(1990)studies perception verbs from the
perspective of etymology and pragmatics and the result shows that the polysemy is
highly motivated. In China, some linguists have also studied polysemy from the
perspective of cognitive linguistics. Liu Zuoyan(2002)studies the semantic extension
mechanism of polysemy and claims that polysemy should be studied from cultural
aspects. Bai Jiehong(2003)concludes that polysemy can be described synchronically8
and diachoronically.
As Taylor puts it, the relationship between senses shows as chain shape (Taylor,
2001). Lakoff (1987) uses radial category to describe the metaphorical extension of
word meanings. Lin Zhengjun(2005) insists that the motivated relationship between
derivative meaning and the source meaning is reflected by radiation and
concatenation. According to Wang Dechun (1990), there are three types of process of
meaning extension. They are radiation, concatenation and the combination of the two.
We can draw the conclusion that cognitive semantic studies of polysemy have
discovered the motivation behind the random-looking group of meanings by using the
idea of metonymic and metaphorical mappings across diverse cognitive domains.
Scholars have pointed out that the process of sense extension is reflected by three
types of patterns, radiation, concatenation and the combination of radiation and
concatenation.
2.2 Previous Cognitive Studies of “head” or “tou” Polysemy
More and more scholars studies body terms in English and Chinese. Studies on
head polysemy in the existing literature could be roughly grouped into three different
types: (1)researches on body terms that mentioned head study(Zhao Qian,2013; Liu
Zhicheng,2014); (2)contrast of tou and head (Liao Yanping,2007; Xiao Junmin,2013 );
(3)studies on tou or head(Li Ying&Wen Xu,2006; Sun Yi,2013). This section mainly
focuses on the third type.
Wang Kun(2013) makes a simple analysis of senses network of "head" in
Chinese, and discusses how the word meanings come into being from the original
meaning by metaphor mechanism. He analyzes the original sense of the "head",
mapping to specific domain, space domain, time domain and the abstract domain
through the mechanism of metaphor. Zhao Yanfang(2000)points out that senses
change is the result of metaphor and metanomy by analyzing the sense category,
prototype meaning and evaluation of the Chinese word “tou” and “zai”. Li Ying and9
Wen Xu(2006) takes Chinese “tou” and English “head” as the research object. They
list some senses of “tou” and “head”, draw the conclusion that metaphor plays a much
more active role than metonymy in senses relations. All these studies on tou or head
just list a few senses make a simple analysis or comparison of the cognitive process.
2.3 Limitations of Previous Studies
It should be mentioned that the previous studies of cognitive motivation of
polysemy have the following limitations.
First, many studies are just making descriptions by giving example. They do not
make deep researches on the generative process of polysemy.Second, many researches
is limited to the level of theory. Most of the researches make a overall discussion that
metaphor and metonymy influence the the evolution of meaning, but what specific
roles of these two mechanisms plays in the evolution of the meaning is hardly
investigated. Third, most researches on cognitive factors that influence the evolution
of the meaning mainly focus on metaphor and metonymy, few researches involve
other cognitive factors. Furthermore, scholars have pointed out that there are three
types of process of sense extension, but they do not make detailed researches on how
the types are formed.
Although scholars have done many researches on cognitive mechanism of
polyesmy, no one can draw a definite conclusion on cognitive mechanism of
polysemy, which shows that topic is still worthy of further study. The present study,
based on the previous studies, taking the senses of “head” as an example, intend to
investigate the generative mechanism of sense extension by studying the generation
process of polysemous “head”.10
Chapter 3 Methodology
3.1 Research Questions
In order to achieve the research objective, the present study intends to answer the
following three questions:
1.What is the prototype sense of head?
2. What are the relations among all the senses of head?
3. What are the cognitive mechanisms of sense extension in head?
3.2 Process of the Study
3.2.1 Procedures to Answer Question 1
Procedure 1 Collecting the senses of “head”
To find out the senses of a word, the most immediate way is to look for a
dictionary. Therefore, it is better to search dictionaries to collect the senses of “head”.
After searching a variety of English dictionaries, the author determine to take the
senses of “head” in The Oxford English Dictionary as the analysis texts. The Oxford
English Dictionary(OED), published by the Oxford University Press, is
a descriptive (as opposed to prescriptive) dictionary of the English language. As well
as describing English usage in its many variations throughout the world, it traces the
historical development of the language, providing a comprehensive resource to
scholars and academic researchers. The second edition, published in 1989, came to
21,728 pages in 20 volumes. The word “head” can be used as a noun, a verb, and an
adjective; it can also be used in various phrases and combinations. The present study
only takes the senses of “head” as a noun as the research object since the senses of
noun head are adequate. As recorded in OED, there are totally 31 main senses,
illustrated in Appendix.11
Procedure 2 Determining original sense and extended senses
Throughout the long history of lexical development, word meanings have
undergone great changes. Whatever changes they underwent, their meanings
inevitably fell into two categories, original meaning and extended meaning. Original
meaning refers to a word’s primary meaning; while extended meaning refers to any
meaning derived from the original meaning.
The noun head has 31 senses altogether. For word sense, the first appeared sense
must be original sense. In terms of the all the senses of head, the sense item1 “The
anterior part of the body of an animal, when separated by a neck,or otherwise
distinguished, from the rest of the body; it contains the mouth and special
sense-organs, and the brain” was first appeared in about 825. It is the most typical one.
Therefore, it is the original sense of head.
Other 30 senses appeared after the original and they are derived from the original
sense. They all belong to extended senses. Furthermore, there are various sub-senses
listed after main senses.
3.2.2 Procedures to Answer Question 2
Procedure 1 Identifying the senses level
As mentioned in 3.2.1, there are totally 31 main senses. All the senses are
divided into three parts, the literal senses, a thing or part of a thing resembling a head
in form or position, and various figurative uses arising from preceding senses. Senses
1-7 form the first part, the second part include senses 8-24 and the rest senses form
the third part.
Procedure 2 Analyzing the relationship among main senses
First, defining the analytic criteria. It is difficult to define the relationship among
so many senses since there is no dictionary or book telling the sense relationship of a
word. In order to figure out the relationship, this study follows two criteria, the
chronological order that senses emerge and the closeness of senses. Both of the12
criteria must be satisfied at the same time, but one of them may be emphasized. The
The time of sense emergence has been marked.
Ullmann(1951), Lu Guoqiang(1983), Shu Dingfang(2000) and many other
scholars have proposed the concept of semantic motivation, they point out that the
relationship between the original meaning and its derivative meanings is motivated. It
has been mentioned that the senses have been divided into three parts. The next step is
to analyze the senses relationship in the first part, that is, the relationship between the
original sense and item 2-7. The following step is to analyze the senses relationship in
the second part. The original sense of head is item 1, while the earliest sense in part
two is the item 15. Thus item 15 must come from the original sense. Then, the
cognitive relationship between the item 15 and other 18 senses in the second part will
be studied separately.
The senses in part three arising from the preceding senses in part one and part
two. Therefore, we should first figure out these extended senses come from which
sense referring to the two criteria.
For example, the relationship between item 1 and item 25
Item1 The anterior part of the body of an animal, when separated by a neck, or
otherwise distinguished, from the rest of the body; it contains the mouth and special
sense-organs, and the brain.(c825)
Item25 Applied to things or places: the chief city, capital; the chief or most
excellent part.(c893); A person to whom others are subordinate; a chief, captain,
commander, ruler,leader, principal person, head man.(c897).
It is obvious that item 25 arise from item1. Just a few senses appear before 1000.
According to the time sequence, item 25 derives from the original sense. In addition,
these two sense are closely related. Both of them relate to person or important statue.
Procedure 3 Determining the path of senses
It is time to determining the path of senses, since the relationships among all the
main senses have been figured out in the above procedures. The most clear and
intuitive way is to form the main senses network. Based on the above studies of13
relationships, main senses network may be drawn out like the following.
Procedure 4 Analyzing the types of relationship between original sense and
extended senses
As Taylor puts it, the relationship between senses shows as chain shape (Taylor,
2001). Lakoff (1987) uses radial category to describe the metaphorical extension of
word meanings. Lin Zhengjun(2005) insists that the motivated relationship between
derivative meaning and the source meaning is reflected by radiation and
1825
15847
25897
131586
21000
31340
413..
5+1494
61420
71551
91000
311340
131586
261300
131586
271500
131586
291597
131586
301588
131586
281607
131586
121300
813..
181205
191340
131586
221155
131586 241400
131586
171480
211485
131586 101545
131586
141611
161548
231644
131586
111704
201793
13158614
concatenation. According to the sense network in the last procedure, it can be seen
that there are three types of relationships, radial pattern, chain pattern and synthetic
pattern. The whole network is a synthetic pattern which is combined with radial
pattern and chain pattern.
For example,
radial pattern
chain pattern
3.2.3 Procedures to Answer Question 3
Procedure 1 Analyzing the cognitive mechanism of extended senses
Number each generative process on the network in 3.2.2. The extended senses
are related to original sense or other extended senses. We have figured out the sense
relationship in 3.2.2. In order to achieve the research objective, we should make
detailed analysis of the generation process of extended senses.
For example,
① the cognitive relationship between item 1 and item 15
Item1 The anterior part of the body of an animal, when separated by a neck,or
otherwise distinguished, from the rest of the body; it contains the mouth and special
sense-organs, and the brain.(c825)
Item 15 The upper end of something on a slope or so regarded; e.g. That end of a
1825 413.. 5+149415
lake at which a river enters it; the higher end of a valley, the inner extremity of a cave,
gulf, etc.; that end of a bed, grave, ect. towards which a person’s head lies; that end of
a table at which the chief seat is.(847)
image schema and metaphor
mapping
source domain target domain
The original sense of head includes “The anterior part of the body of an animal”,
which mention the position. Head is located on the top. This original sense can be
further extended according to the schema of the position of “head”, which include the
up-down schema, front-back schema and source-goal schema. While item 15 means
the upper end of a slope and the higher end of a valley, which is also the up-down
schema. Moreover, the inner extremity of a cave and end of a bed or a table reflect the
source-goal schema and front-back schema. Therefore, the position of head as a
source domain is mapping to target domain upper end of something such as upper end
of a slope, upper end of a lake, higher end of a valley. That is to say, image schema
and metaphor are the cognitive mechanisms of the extended item 15.
②the cognitive relationship between item 1 and item 2
Item1 The anterior part of the body of an animal, when separated by a neck,or
otherwise distinguished, from the rest of the body; it contains the mouth and special
sense-organs, and the brain.(c825)
1.upper end of a slope
2.upper end of a lake;
3.higher end of a valley;
4.inner extremity of a
cave,gulf;
5.end of a bed, grave;
6.end of a table
……..
anterior
part of the
body of an
animal16
Item 2 As the seat of mind, thought, intellect, memory or imagination.(c1374)
Metonymy
Item 1 Item 2
whole part
The original sense of head contain the brain where sits the mind, thought,
intellect, memory or imagination. The physical entity head is a whole. The mind,
thought, intellect, memory and imagination are parts of head. The part is substituted
for the whole. Therefore, the cognitive mechanism of item 2 is metonymy.
Procedure 2 Analyzing the cognitive mechanism of sub-senses
Following the analysis in procedure 1, this procedure will study the cognitive
relationship among sub-senses. Most of the main senses contain sub-senses. We can
get a better understanding of the cognitive mechanism by studying sub-senses.
For example
⑴ the cognitive relationship between item A1 and item B1
The prototypical sense item1 contains 5 sub-senses, A1, B1,C1,D1,and E1. Head
was first to be used in man, meaning the upper division of the body jointed to the
truck by the neck in 825. Later in 1000, people use it in lower animals for animals’
head is also the upper division of the body jointed to the truck by the neck. The heads
of people and animal contains contain the mouth and special sense-organs and the
brain. The usage of head is shifted from the one cognitive space to another.
The anterior part of
the body, contains the
mouth and special
sense-organs, and the
brain
the seat of mind,
thought, intellect,
memory or
imagination17
A1 B1
Procedure 3 Analyzing and concluding the cognitive generative mechanism of
head
Based on the above studies, we can sort out the cognitive theories that work at
the generative processes of extended senses to form the following chart. Then we can
conclude the generative mechanism of head in cognitive perspective by analyzing the
chart.
cognitive theories main senses
processes
sub-sense
processes
metaphor Such as①...
metonymy ②...
image schema ①
3.3 Limitations of the Study
This study is only a tentative exploration into the generative process of polysemy.
It is for sure that the study is not exhaustive and complete. The limitations of this
study are listed as follow:
Firstly, the corpus used in this study is limited. The present study only
concentrates on the senses of head as a noun. The corpus used in this study is taken
from OED published in 1989. Therefore,the senses emerge after 1989 have not been
Man: contain the
mouth and special
sense-organs and the
brain; joint the truck
by the neck
Animals: contain the
mouth and special
sense-organs and the
brain; joint the truck
by the neck18
studied.
Secondly, the correlation between senses mainly depends on the
logical derivation in accordance with time mark and the closeness of senses since
there is no dictionary or literature indicating the correlation between senses.19
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Appendix
Senses of “head”（as a noun） in OED:
I. The literal sense, and directly connected uses.(1-7)
1. The anterior part of the body of an animal, when separated by a neck,or otherwise
distinguished, from the rest of the body; it contains the mouth and special
sense-organs, and the brain.
A1. In man, the upper division of the body, jointed to the truck by the neck.(c 825)
B1. In lower animals.(c 1000)
C1. As a measure in comparing persons’ heights, as taller by a head.(13..)22
D1. A headache, esp. such a condition caused by a blow or over-indulgence in
liquor.(1857)
E1. A good or strong head, a good head for heights (c1810)
2.
A2. As the seat of mind, thought, intellect, memory or imagination.(c1374)
B2. As a part essential life; hence, in phrases, =life(a1000)
C2. To have a (good) head on one’s shoulders: to be sensible, able, proficient; to have
a head for(figures): to be adept at(1812)
3.
A3. A representation, figure, or image of a head.(c1430)
B3. The obverse side of a coin, when bearing the figure of a head; the reverse being
called the tail(1684)
C3. A postage-stamp: so called from the figure of the sovereign’s head(1840)
4. In reference to , and hence denoting, the hair on the head.(13..)
5. +
A5. the hair as dressed in some particular manner; applied esp. in the 18 th c. To the
heads of powered and pomades hair drawn up over a cushion or stuffing, and dress
with gauze, ribbon,etc., then worn;(1494)
B5. A horse’s headstall.(1897)
6.
A6. Venery. The ‘attire’ or antlers of a deer, roebuck, etc.(c1420)
B6. Phr. Of the first head: said of a deer, etc. At the age when the antlers are first
developed.(1420)
7. Put for the person himself:
A7. In reference to his mind or disposition, or to some quality or attribute.(1551)
B7. In enumeration: an individual person. Per head: for each person.(1535)
C7. As a unit in numbering cattle, game, etc.(1513)
D7. An indefinite number or collection of animals, esp. of game(1601)
E7. A drug-addict or drug-taker; freq. with defining word prefixed, as hophead,
pot-head.(1911)23
II. A thing or part of a thing resembling a head in form or position.(8-24)
8. The upper or principal extremity of various things , esp. when rounded, projecting,
or of something special shape.
A8. The striking cutting part of certain weapons and instruments: as of an ax, spear,
arrow, hammer, club, etc. (13..)
B8. The rounded or knobbed extremity of a pin, nail, screw, etc., opposite to the
point.(1542)
C8. The extremity of a bone, at which it articulates with another bone; esp. when
rounded.(1727-51)
D8. The relatively fixed end of a muscle by which it is attached to a bone; the origin
of a muscle.(1727-51)
E8. The bulb at the end of a tube as in a thermometer. (1664)
F8. The rounded part of a comet, comprising the nucleus and coma, as distinct from
the tail.(1727-51)
G8. Music. That part of a note which determines its position on the stave, as distinct
from the stem or tail.(1727-52)
H8. That part of a lute, violin, etc. above the neck, in which the turning pins are
inserted; usually of a rounded form, and often artistically carved.(1611)
I8. The upper end or point of a violin-bow;(1836)
J8.The upright timber of a gate at the opposite end from the hinges(1641)
K8. The flat end of a barrel, cask, or similar vessel(1390)
L8. +the capital of a column(1552)
M8. The cover of an alembic or crucible(1594)
N8. A cover or hood for a carriage(1794)
O8. A collective trade-name for the larger plates of tortoiseshellon the carapace of
hawk’s-bill turtle(1892)
P8. The upper member or part of various other things(1535)
Q8. =pommel(1850)
R8. The closed end of a cylinder of a pump or engine(1884)
S8. Of a bicycle frame(1887)24
T8. Of an explosive shell(1898)
9.
A9. Any rounded or compact part of a plant, usually at the top of the stem(c1000)
B9. The rounded leafy top of a tree of shrub.(1523)
10.
A10. A collection of foam or froth on the top of liquor, esp. ale or beer.(1545)
B10. A collection of cream on the surface of milk(1589)
11. Various technical uses.
A11. A bundle of flax or silk(1704)
B11. A tile of half the usual length, used at the eaves of a roof(1703)
C11. Local name foe certain geological formations(1846)
D11. Gold-mining.(1890)
E11. (pl.)tin manuf..(1879)
F11. Curling and bowls(1828)
G11. A device designed to convert variations in an electrical signal into variations in
the motion of a stylus or vice versa.(1951)
12. The top, summit, upper end(of an eminence, or erection, as a pole, pile,
mast,sail,staircase, ladder, etc.)(a1300)
13.
A13. The top of a page or writing; hence, something, as a tittle, written at the top of a
page, section, etc.; a heading.(1586)
B13. The top of a book(1835)
C13. A headline in a newspaper(1911)
14. The maturated part of a boil, abscess,etc., at which it tends to break.(1611)
15. The upper end of something on a slope or so regarded; e.g. That end of a lake at
which a river enters it; the higher end of a valley, the inner extremity of a cave, gulf,
etc.; that end of a bed, grave, ect. towards which a person’s head lies; that end of a
table at which the chief seat is.(847)
16.
A16. spec. The source of a river or steam. Now chiefly in fountain-head.(1375)25
B16. fig. Source, origin: usually fountain-head. (1548)
17.
A17. A body of water kept at a height for supplying a mill, etc.; the height of such a
body of water, or the body of its fall. Sometimes, the bank or dam by which such
water is kept up.(1480)
B17. transf. The difference of pressure(per unit of air) of two columns of fluid of
different densities communicating at the base; the pressure of a confined body of gas
or vapour.(1862)
C17. A high tidal wave, usually in an estuary(1570)
D17. Founding(1858)
18. The foremost part or end; the front.
A18. The front of a procession, army, or the like.(c1250)
B18. The front, outer or projecting end of a fortification, a pier, etc.(1706)
C18. The front part of a plough which bears the share.(1842-44)
19.+
A19. The beginning(of a word, writing,etc.)(1340)
B19. Astrol. The commencement of a zodiacal sign(1340)
C19. (a)Phonetics. The innitial stressed element in a sequence of sounds before the
nucleus.(b) Linguistics. (1922)
20. The thick end of a chisel or wedge, opposite to the edge.(1793)
21.
A21. The fore part of a ship, boat, etc.; the bows.(1485)
B21. Phrases. By the head, with the head lower in the water than the stern(1769)
C21. Spec. The work fitted in front of the stem in some types of ships, including the
knee of the head, the figure-head, rails,etc.(1676)
D21. A ship’s latrine(in the bows)(1748)
22.
A22. A projecting point of the coast, esp. when of considerable height; a cape,
headland, promontory.(c1155)
B22. A projecting point of a rock or sandbank.(1755)26
23. Coal-mining. An underground passage or level for working the coal.(1644)
24. An end, extremity(of anything of greater length than breadth). Obs. exc. in certain
special uses, as of a stone or brick in a building, or of a bridge.(c1400)
III. Various figurative uses arising from the preceding senses.
25.
A25. A person to whom others are subordinate; a chief, captain, commander,
ruler,leader, principal person, head man.(c897)
B25. Spec. The master or principal of a college or ‘house’ in a university; also short
for headmaster.(1565)
C25. A collection of persons holding a position of command or leadership(1665)
D25. Applied to things or places: the chief city, capital; the chief or most excellent
part.(c893)
26.
A26. Position of leadership, chief command or greatest importance; chiefly in the phr.
At the head of.(a1300)
B26. Head of the river(in bumping races):the position of being first boat; also said of
the boat, crew, or college, which gains this position in a race or series of races.(1853)
C26. Rugby football. In full loose head:in the front row of the scrummage the forward
closest to the scrum half as he puts the ball into the scrummage.(1917)
27. One of the chief points of a discourse , the section of it pertaining to any such
point; hence, a point, topic; a main division, section, chapter of a writing; a division of
a subject, class, category.(c1500)
28. Turning of the head, backward change of the course.(1607)
29. Advance against opposing force; resistance; insurrection(1597)
30. + a body of people gathered; a force raised, esp. in insurrection.(1588)
31. Issue, result; conclusion, summing up; culmination,crisis; maturity; pitch, height;
strength, force, power(gradually attained): in various phrases, as to come, grow,
gather to a head.(1340)
(a(a1300)=ante, before, not later than; c(c1000)=circa, about,+=obsolete;..indicates an
omitted part of quotation)
