different between head vs grand

English

Alternative forms

• heed (obsolete), hed (obsolete)
• 'ead (UK, eye dialect)

Pronunciation

• enPR: h?d, IPA^(key): /h?d/
• Rhymes: -?d

Etymology 1

From Middle English hed, heed, heved, heaved, from Old English h?afod (“head; top; source, origin; chief, leader; capital”), from Proto-Germanic *haubud? (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *káput-.

Noun

head (countable and uncountable, plural heads or head)

1. (countable) The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
   1. (people) To do with heads.
      1. Mental or emotional aptitude or skill.

      2. (figuratively, metonymically) Mind; one's own thoughts.
      3. A headache; especially one resulting from intoxication.
      4. A headdress; a covering for the head.

      5. (figuratively, metonymically) An individual person.
   2. (animals) To do with heads.
      1. (plural head, measure word for livestock and game) A single animal.

      2. The population of game.

      3. The antlers of a deer.
2. (countable) The topmost, foremost, or leading part.
   1. The end of a table.
      1. The end of a rectangular table furthest from the entrance; traditionally considered a seat of honor.

      2. (billiards) The end of a pool table opposite the end where the balls have been racked.
   2. (countable) The principal operative part of a machine or tool.
      1. The end of a hammer, axe, golf club, or similar implement used for striking other objects.
      2. The end of a nail, screw, bolt, or similar fastener which is opposite the point; usually blunt and relatively wide.

      3. The sharp end of an arrow, spear, or pointer.

      4. (lacrosse) The top part of a lacrosse stick that holds the ball.
      5. (music) A drum head, the membrane which is hit to produce sound.

      6. A machine element which reads or writes electromagnetic signals to or from a storage medium.

      7. (computing) The part of a disk drive responsible for reading and writing data.
      8. (automotive) The cylinder head, a platform above the cylinders in an internal combustion engine, containing the valves and spark plugs.
   3. (uncountable, countable) The foam that forms on top of beer or other carbonated beverages.

      He never learned how to pour a glass of beer so it didn't have too much head.

   4. (engineering) The end cap of a cylindrically-shaped pressure vessel.
   5. (Britain, geology) Deposits near the top of a geological succession.
   6. (journalism) Short for headline.
      • 1968, Earl English, ?Clarence Hach, Scholastic Journalism (page 166)

        The content of a headline over a news story should be taken from the lead of the story. […] The head should give the same impression as the body of the story.

   7. (medicine) The end of an abscess where pus collects.
   8. (music) The headstock of a guitar.
   9. (nautical) A leading component.
      1. The top edge of a sail.
      2. The bow of a vessel.
   10. (Britain) A headland.
3. (social, countable, metonymically) A leader or expert.
   1. The place of honour, or of command; the most important or foremost position; the front.
   2. (metonymically) Leader; chief; mastermind.
   3. (metonymically) A headmaster or headmistress.
      • 1992 June 24, Edwina Currie, Diary:

        At 4pm, the phone went. It was The Sun: 'We hear your daughter's been expelled for cheating at her school exams...'
        
        She'd made a remark to a friend at the end of the German exam and had been pulled up for talking.
        
        As they left the exam room, she muttered that the teacher was a 'twat'. He heard and flipped—a pretty stupid thing to do, knowing the kids were tired and tense after exams. Instead of dropping it, the teacher complained to the Head and Deb was carpeted.

   4. (music, slang, figuratively, metonymically) A person with an extensive knowledge of hip hop.

4. A significant or important part.
   1. A beginning or end, a protuberance.
      1. The source of a river; the end of a lake where a river flows into it.

      2. A clump of seeds, leaves or flowers; a capitulum.
         1. An ear of wheat, barley, or other small cereal.
         2. The leafy top part of a tree.
      3. (anatomy) The rounded part of a bone fitting into a depression in another bone to form a ball-and-socket joint.
      4. (nautical) The toilet of a ship.

      5. (in the plural) Tiles laid at the eaves of a house.
         • 1875, Edward H. Knight, Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary, vol. II, page 1086

           Heads. (Roofing.) Tiles which are laid at the eaves of a house

   2. A component.
      1. (jazz) The principal melody or theme of a piece.
      2. (linguistics) A morpheme that determines the category of a compound or the word that determines the syntactic type of the phrase of which it is a member.
5. Headway; progress.

6. Topic; subject.

7. (only in the singular) Denouement; crisis.
   • 1712 October 18, anonymous letter in The Spectator, edited by Joseph Addison, no. 513, collected in The Works of the Late Right Honorable Joseph Addison, Esq, Birmingham: John Baskerville, published 1761, volume IV, page 10:

     THE indi?po?ition which has long hung upon me, is at la?t grown to ?uch an head, that it mu?t quickly make an end of me, or of it?elf.

8. (fluid dynamics) Pressure and energy.
   1. (uncountable, countable) A buildup of fluid pressure, often quantified as pressure head.

      How much head do you have at the Glens Falls feeder dam?

   2. The difference in elevation between two points in a column of fluid, and the resulting pressure of the fluid at the lower point.
   3. More generally, energy in a mass of fluid divided by its weight.
9. (slang, uncountable) Fellatio or cunnilingus; oral sex.

10. (slang) The glans penis.
11. (slang, countable) A heavy or habitual user of illicit drugs.
    • 1936, Lee Duncan, Over The Wall, Dutton

      Then I saw the more advanced narcotic addicts, who shot unbelievable doses of powerful heroin in the main line – the vein of their arms; the hysien users; chloroform sniffers, who belonged to the riff-raff element of the dope chippeys, who mingled freely with others of their kind; canned heat stiffs, paragoric hounds, laudanum fiends, and last but not least, the veronal heads.

    • 2005, Martin Torgoff, Can't Find My Way Home, Simon & Schuster, page 177,

      The hutch now looks like a “Turkish bath,” and the heads have their arms around one another, passing the pipe and snapping their fingers as they sing Smokey Robinson's “Tracks of My Tears” into the night.

12. (obsolete) Power; armed force.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:head.

Gallery

Synonyms

• (part of the body): caput (anatomy); pate, noggin (slang), loaf (slang), nut (slang), noodle (slang), bonce (British slang)
• (mental aptitude or talent): mind
• (mental or emotional control): composure, poise
• (topmost part of anything): top
• (leader): boss, chief, leader
• (headmaster, headmistress): headmaster m, headmistress f, principal (US)
• (toilet of a ship): See Thesaurus:toilet and Thesaurus:bathroom
• (top of a sail):
• (foam on carbonated beverages):
• (fellatio): blowjob, blow job, fellatio, oral sex
• (end of tool used for striking):
• (blunt end of fastener):
• See also Thesaurus:head

Antonyms

• (topmost part of anything): base, bottom, underside, foot, tail
• (leader): subordinate, underling
• (blunt end of fastener): point, sharp end, tip

Usage notes

• To give something its head is to allow it to run freely. This is used for horses, and, sometimes, figuratively for vehicles.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ??? (heddo)
• Sranan Tongo: ede

Translations

See head/translations § Noun.

Adjective

head (not comparable)

1. Of, relating to, or intended for the head.

Translations

Verb

head (third-person singular simple present heads, present participle heading, simple past and past participle headed)

2. (transitive) To be in command of. (See also head up.)

3. (transitive) To come at the beginning of; to commence.

   A group of clowns headed the procession.

   The most important items headed the list.

4. (transitive) To strike with the head; as in soccer, to head the ball
5. (intransitive) To move in a specified direction.

6. (fishing) To remove the head from a fish.

7. (intransitive) To originate; to spring; to have its course, as a river.
   • 1775, James Adair, The History of the American Indians, page 223

     a broad purling river, that heads in the great blue ridge of mountains,
8. (intransitive) To form a head.
9. (transitive) To form a head to; to fit or furnish with a head.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)

10. (transitive) To cut off the top of; to lop off.

11. (transitive, obsolete) To behead; to decapitate.
    • 1822, Allan Cunningham, "Ezra Peden", in Traditional Tales of the English and Scottish Peasantry, v. 1, p. 37.

      I tell thee, man of God, the uncharitableness of the sect to which thou pertainest has thronged the land of punishment as much as those who headed, and hanged, and stabbed, and shot, and tortured.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

12. To go in front of.

13. To get in the front of, so as to hinder or stop; to oppose.

14. (by extension) To check or restrain.
15. To set on the head.

Derived terms

Translations

Related terms

• ahead
• knucklehead
• railhead
• smackhead

Etymology 2

From Middle English hed, heved, heaved, hæfedd, from Old English h?afod- (“principal, main, primary”), from Proto-Germanic *haubuda-, *haubida-, from Proto-Indo-European *kauput-, *káput- (“head”). Compare Saterland Frisian hööft-, West Frisian haad-, Dutch hoofd-, German Low German höövd-, German haupt-.

Adjective

head (not comparable)

1. Foremost in rank or importance.

2. Placed at the top or the front.
3. Coming from in front.

Synonyms

• (foremost in rank or importance): chief, principal
• (placed at the top or the front): first, top

Antonyms

• (coming from in front): tail

Translations

Anagrams

• DHEA, ahed, hade

Estonian

Adjective

head

1. inflection of hea:
   1. partitive singular
   2. plural

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??ænd/
• Rhymes: -ænd

Etymology 1

From Middle English grand, grond, graund, graunt, from Anglo-Norman graunt, from Old French grant, from Latin grandis. Doublet of grande and grandee.

Alternative forms

• grande

Adjective

grand (comparative grander or more grand, superlative grandest or most grand)

1. Of a large size or extent; great.

   a grand mountain

   a grand army

   a grand mistake

2. Great in size, and fine or imposing in appearance or impression; illustrious, dignified, magnificent.

   a grand monarch

   a grand view

   His simple vision has transformed into something far more grand.
3. Having higher rank or more dignity, size, or importance than other persons or things of the same name.

   a grand lodge

   a grand vizier

   a grand piano

   The Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire.

4. (usually in compound forms) Standing in the second or some more remote degree of parentage or descent (see grand-).

   grandfather, grandson, grand-child

5. (Ireland, Northern England, colloquial, otherwise dated) Fine; lovely.

6. (music) Containing all the parts proper to a given form of composition.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

grand (plural grands or grand)

1. (plural "grand") A thousand of some unit of currency, such as dollars or pounds. (Compare G.)

   For quotations using this term, see Citations:grand.

2. (music, plural "grands") A grand piano

Translations

Etymology 2

From granddaughter, grandfather, grandmother, grandson, etc.

Noun

grand (plural grands)

1. A grandparent or grandchild.
   • 1987, Toni Morrison, Beloved, page 269:

     Once, in Maryland, he met four families of slaves who had all been together for a hundred years: great-grands, grands, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, children.

   • 2012, Brenda Jackson, Texas Wild & Beyond Temptation, page 47:

     Her granddaughter and great-granddaughter went with us as chaperones. Did I ever tell you that she had six grands and two great-grands? […] And Emily agrees with me it's a shame that I don't even have a grand.

Further reading

• grand in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• DRAGN

Bourguignon

Etymology

From Latin grandis.

Adjective

grand (feminine grand or grande, masculine plural grands, feminine plural grands or grandes)

1. big

French

Etymology

From Middle French grand, from Old French grant, from Latin grandis, grandem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /????/, (followed by vowel or h muet) /????.t?/

Adjective

grand (feminine singular grande, masculine plural grands, feminine plural grandes)

1. big, great, grand
2. tall
3. (usually capitalized) Great, an honorific title

4. great; big fat; an intensifier

5. extensive, large

Derived terms

See also

• grand-mère
• grand-père
• grand-chose

Further reading

• “grand” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Friulian

Alternative forms

• grant (standard orthography)

Adjective

grand

1. Alternative form of grant

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse grand (“injury, hurt”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /krant/
• Rhymes: -ant

Noun

grand n (genitive singular grands, nominative plural grönd)

1. damage, harm, destruction
2. (card games) absence of trump cards/suits

Declension

Synonyms

• mein
• skaði
• óskundi

Related terms

• granda

Middle French

Alternative forms

• grant

Etymology

From Old French grant, from Latin grandis, grandem.

Adjective

grand m (feminine singular grande, masculine plural grands, feminine plural grandes) (comparative greigneur, superlative greigneur)

1. big; large

Descendants

• French: grand

Norman

Alternative forms

• grànd (Guernsey)

Etymology

From Old French grant, from Latin grandis, grandem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?r??/, /?r??/
• (Jersey)

Adjective

grand m

1. (Jersey) big

Derived terms

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin grandis.

Adjective

grand m (feminine singular granda, masculine plural grands, feminine plural grandas)

1. big, large

   Antonyms: pichon, petit

Derived terms

• grandament
• grandàs
• grandesa

Further reading

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians, 2 edition, ?ISBN, page 538.

Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran, Vallader) grond
• (Sutsilvan) grànd

Etymology

From Latin grandis, grandem.

Adjective

grand m (feminine singular granda, masculine plural grands, feminine plural grandas)

1. (Puter) big, large
2. (Puter) tall

Swedish

Noun

grand n

1. a mote, a speck, something very small and unimportant

Usage notes

• The form grann is used in the adverb litegrann (“a bit”), which in older texts can be written litet grand.
• Phrases like vi åt lunch på Grand, refer to a "Grand Hotel" available in several towns

Declension

Walloon

Etymology

From Old French grant, from Latin grandis, grandem.

Adjective

grand m (feminine singular grande, masculine plural grands, feminine plural grandes, feminine plural (before noun) grandès)

1. large, big