headpiecen.
/ˈhɛdpiːs/, U.S. /ˈhɛdˌpis/ 1.
a. A piece of plate armour covering the forehead of a horse; = chamfron n. archaic and historical in later use.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > armour for horse > [noun] > for head
testerc1386
cheveronnec1420
chamfron1465
shaffron1465
headpiece1530
chaffron1547
frontal1587
chieffront1598
frontlet1805
front-stall1825
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 230/1 Head pece of harnesse, armet, chafrayn.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Chanfrain de Cheval d'armes, the front-stall, head-peece, or forhead-piece, of a barbed horse.
1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. III. lxxiv. 287 Attila's helmet, the iron head-piece wore by Colleonius's horse, and several sorts of arms taken from the Turks, are likewise to be seen here.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. ii. 26 His gallant war-horse..fully accoutred for battle, with a chamfrom or plaited head-piece upon his head.
1897 J. S. Gardner Armour in Eng. iv. 48 The horses..wore a heavy chamfron or headpiece of plate.
1915 Internat. Studio Dec. p. l With the exception of a small headpiece, horse armour was not used in France until a hundred and twenty years later [than Jeanne d'Arc].
2011 J. M. Kistler Animals in Mil. 130 A few medieval horses wore armor that included a chamfron headpiece with a sharp spike.
b. A piece of armour for a person's head, a helmet. archaic and historical in later use.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > helmet > [noun]
helmc725
hoodc1275
crestc1325
iron hatc1330
testerc1386
helmet1470
cap1530
hood-skull1537
headpiecea1555
caska1586
mazer1605
casque1696
head cover1839
a1555 H. Latimer Frutefull Serm. (1578) f. 4 Take also the Helmet or headpece of health.
a1627 J. Hayward Life & Raigne Edward Sixt (1630) 37 He finding the Earle..without his helmet..tooke of his owne headpeece and put it on the Earles head.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 426 The shining Head-piece, and the Shield.
1721 tr. M.-C. D'Aulnoy Coll. Novels & Tales of Fairies II. iii. 196 She was surprized by a Lady all in Armour,..taking off her Head-piece.
1755 T. Smollett tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote I. i. i. 5 His armour being scoured, his beaver fitted to his head-piece,..nothing else was wanting but a lady.
1842 T. B. Macaulay Battle Lake Regillus in Lays Anc. Rome 118 Mamilius smote Herminius Through head-piece and through head.
1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 711/1 The mounted troops in this war with Philip wore back, breast, and head pieces, and buff-coats.
1926 Boys' Life Aug. 58/2 An iron headpiece covered his red cap.
1967 Black Belt Jan. 27/2 His [sc. the ninja's] wrists, hands and neck were also protected by mail guards, and his headpiece was also made of mail.
2009 New Yorker 16 Nov. 9/1 A sixteenth-century headpiece with antler-like crests.
2. gen. A piece of headgear; a cap, a hat; a headdress. Also in extended use.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun]
attirec1380
headgeara1500
chapeau1523
headpiece1547
headclothes1549
attiring1552
head-tire1560
headdress1645
head-dressing1678
hairdress18..
headwear1867
ta-tac1910
1547 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 10 xij hedpeces to the same Rounde of clothe of Syluer the Turffes of Crymsin Tilsent bownde with yolowe Satten.
1552 in Surrey Archæol. Coll. (1869) 4 90 Vj amyses or hed peases.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear ix. 26 Hee that has a house to put his head in, has a good headpeece . View more context for this quotation
1694 J. Beaumont Present State of Universe 55 The Papal Escutcheon is Gules, and consists of a long Cap, or Head-piece Or, surmounted with a Cross.
1736 Universal Hist. I. i. iii. 215 The face [of an Egyptian mummy] is covered with a kind of head-piece of linnen cloth fitted with plaister.
1824 S. E. Ferrier Inheritance I. xvii. 188 His ordinary head-piece, a striped woollen nightcap.
1856 W. M. Thackeray Let. 9 Mar. (1946) III. 578 The hat is so comfortable that I cant abide the stiff British headpiece afterwards.
1909 Atlantic Monthly Dec. 826/1 A startled little girl..with a deservedly rumpled head-piece.
1927 Pop. Mech. May 767/2 A blue headpiece for nurses in the naval corps is waterproof.
1945 Richmond (Va.) News-leader 2 Aug. 14/3 This headpiece is a cross between a ‘babushka’ and a snood.
2011 Independent on Sunday 26 June 5/2 Retailers report that extravagant headpieces are having something of a ‘moment’ this summer.
3. † a. The head; the skull or cranium. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > [noun]
nolleOE
headOE
topa1225
copc1264
scalpa1300
chiefc1330
crownc1330
jowla1400
poll?a1400
testea1400
ball in the hoodc1400
palleta1425
noddle?1507
costard?1515
nab?1536
neck1560
coxcomb1567
sconce1567
now1568
headpiece1579
mazer1581
mazardc1595
cockcomb1602
costrel1604
cranion1611
pasha1616
noddle pate1622
block1635
cranium1647
sallet1652
poundrel1664
nob1699
crany?1730
knowledge box1755
noodle1762
noggin1769
napper1785
garret1796
pimple1811
knowledge-casket1822
coco1828
cobbra1832
coconut1834
top-piece1838
nut1841
barnet1857
twopenny1859
chump1864
topknot1869
conk1870
masthead1884
filbert1886
bonce1889
crumpet1891
dome1891
roof1897
beanc1905
belfry1907
hat rack1907
melon1907
box1908
lemon1923
loaf1925
pound1933
sconec1945
nana1966
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. May 241 In his headpeace he felt a sore payne.
a1633 Visct. Falkland Hist. Edward II (1680) 89 One and the self-same Hood doth fit the head-piece of divers Actors.
1646 E. Buckler Midnights Medit. of Death sig. G8 Absalom was most deform'd within; His head-piece had more hair then wit by ods.
1738 Inconsoleables ii. 30 Such a Shape, such a Pair of Hands,..and such a Head-piece a-top of all.
1837 B. D. Walsh tr. Aristophanes Acharnians ii. ii, in Comedies 36 I will speak, sir, with my head-piece On a butcher's chopping-block.
b. The head or brain considered as the seat of mental activity; intellect, brains, sense. colloquial in later use.
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the mind > mental capacity > intellect > [noun] > head as seat of intellect
headeOE
headpiece1581
the (also one's) upper storey (also storeys)1699
1581 B. Rich Farewell Militarie Profession vi. sig. Tiijv Knowyng her housebande to be a man of no verie greate substaunce, and but slenderly stuffed in the hedpeece.
1588 A. Fraunce Lawiers Logike i. i. f. 2 Not lurking in the obscure head-pieces of one or two loytering Fryers.
1613 in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1849) (modernized text) I. 262 The hurt..which was feared had somewhat crazed his headpiece.
1700 A. Boyer Wise & Ingenious Compan. 175 What think you of his Head-piece? Is he a proper Man for an Ambassador?
1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xxxi. 203 You have an excellent Head-piece for your Years.
1835 J. Hogg Tales Wars Montrose I. 48 An easy, good-natured, and gentlemanly being..with no great headpiece.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer xxviii. 402 With a real good headpiece too, though there's not much book-learning in it.
1918 C. L. Hartt Diggerettes 19 With four hours to go and a booze-inflated headpiece, the outlook was ‘up to’.
1923 Today's Housewife Aug. 3/3 Mrs. Hill always said that..‘Ida had the best head-piece of the family’.
2003 J. Murray Jazz xii. 235 ‘She has brains, I swear, nearly as big as my own.’.. ‘Some headpiece that must be. I wonder what you two great minds choose to talk about?’
c. A clever or intellectual person. Now rare and slang (Irish English).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > [noun] > intelligent person
wit1508
callent1637
intelligent1640
headpiece1647
intelligence1648
long head1744
intellect1842
sharpshins1883
brain1914
brain-box1942
brainiac1975
1647 Coppie Let. Agitators in Army 3 Wee will displace our Generall, and put Crumwell that brave Head-peece in his room.
1657 T. Burton Diary (1828) I. 309 Of all the head-pieces that were there, he was thought to give the strongest reasons.
1715 J. Gay What d'ye call It Introd. 4 Is not this Steward of mine a pure ingenious fellow now..a rare headpiece?
1803 T. Chalmers Let. in W. Hanna Mem. T. Chalmers (1851) I. 475 Exhibiting yourself..as a great philosopher, a wonderful head-piece.
1997 B. Share Slanguage 132/1 Head-piece, intelligent individual.
4. † c. The top part of a yoke used for joining cattle. Obsolete.
a. The top part of the frame of a door, window, or similar opening, a lintel.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of door > [noun] > door lintel
overslayOE
overslaughta1225
overdornea1325
thresholdc1350
overthresholda1382
dernera1400
overcheekc1400
overway1430
headpiece1611
supercilium1816
paepae1937
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Linteau, the lintell or headpeece ouer a doore.
1661 T. Hall Expos. Prophecy Amos (ix. 1) 512 By the Lintel here is meant the Transome, or Head-peece over the door.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture II. 46/1 The Windows..Their head-piece may be upon a line with the top of the Columns.
1748 tr. N. A. Pluche Spectacle de la Nature VII. xv. 10 The several Pieces belonging to Carpentry..9. Lintels, or Head-pieces over a Door or a Window.
1839 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. (rev. ed.) i. 38 To put oak lintels (correctly, the head pieces over doors or windows, which rest upon the jambs..), three inches and a half thick, to all the openings.
1852 S. C. Brees Illustr. Gloss. Pract. Archit. & Civil Engin. 105 The up-right pieces fronting the room being termed jambs, and the head-piece laying upon it the mantle.
1986 A. Limon in A. Limon et al. Home Owner Man. (ed. 2) i. iii. 57 Door linings are made up by cutting housings in the head-piece to take the jambs.
1999 P. Straub Mr. X xxxiii. 138 I noticed the legend carved on a stone headpiece over the front door.
b. Originally: †the tester or canopy of a (four-posted) bed (obsolete). In later use: the headboard of a bed.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > bedding > [noun] > canopy
sperverc1330
testerc1380
canopya1382
sparver1440
shadow1604
bed-tester1704
headpiece1759
toldo1772
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > parts of bed > [noun] > bedstead > board
footboard1650
headboard1701
foot piece1812
headpiece1846
1759 Scots Mag. Jan. 183/2 The bed was of silver tissue,..the head-piece embroidered with the bride and bridegroom's coat of arms.
1787 F. Grose Provinc. Gloss. Teaster or Tester, the head-piece or canopy of the bed.
1846 Llewelyn's Heir I. iii. 130 He was not long in finding his way into the state bed; nor did he bestow much time in examining its..curiously-carved head-piece.
1861 J. R. Reynolds Epilepsy iv. 218 He had broken the head-piece of the bed, which was iron, but not very strong.
1912 C. Mackenzie Carnival xxxvi. 347 She sat up in bed thinking to tap on the wall; but the tapestried head-piece muffled the sound.
1999 A. H. Bond Autobiogr. M. Callas 199 A large eighteenth-century Italian double bed with an elaborately carved headpiece.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > general equipment > [noun] > harness of draught animal > yoke > part of
yoke boweOE
oxbowa1325
yoke-band1585
yoke thong1585
beele1616
headpiece1763
yoke-skey1817
jukskei1822
yoke strap1833
yoke tree1844
skey1850
bow-pin1856
bow-key1859
1763 J. Mills New Syst. Pract. Husbandry II. i. 95 In the middle of the piece a is a mortise,..which serves to unite the head-piece and the yoke.
1808 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Devon Concl. 473 A button or knob at each end..put into the circular holes of the flat head-piece [of a yoke].
d. The upper part of a piece of wood used to make a mast. rare.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > spar > [noun] > mast > mast made of several pieces > parts of
spindle1597
arris piece1717
headpiece1794
side tree1794
tongue1815
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 27 The heel-piece..coaks on to the heel of the lower tree, and the head-piece to the upper tree.
2014 W. L. Crothers Masting of Amer. Merchant Sail 1850s 61/2 In this instance the heelpiece covers about two-thirds of the butt, or heel, of the mast while the head piece covers the opposite two-thirds of the upper end.
5. The part of a bridle or halter that fits over or round the head of a horse; = headstall n.1 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > halter or bridle > parts of
headstallc1330
trench1480
stalk1497
musrol1551
head-strain?1561
water-chain?1561
throat band1585
cavesson1598
mullen1598
nose bit?a1600
front-stall1601
ampyx1607
chain1607
fillet1607
cheek-band1611
cheekpiece1611
noseband1611
throat thong1611
headpiece1678
throatlatch1693
headband1704
trenchefil1730
bridoon1744
banquet1753
head1756
cheek1795
throat strap1803
frontlet1805
throat-lash1805
cheekstrap1834
brow-band1844
nosepiece1865
shank1879
1678 A. Littleton Linguæ Latinæ Liber Dictionarius (at cited word) The head-piece of a bridle, capistrum.
1769 London Mag. 201/1 A globe..is fastened to the head-piece of the bridle.
1844 A. R. Smith Adventures Mr. Ledbury I. iii. 34 Horses [with] head-pieces and bearing-reins.
1890 C. King Campaigning with Crook 66 His bridle is the simplest thing in the world, a single head-piece, a light snaffle bit, and a rein.
1958 F. E. Ward Cowboy at Work xvi. 148 The bowline knot is tied on the near side, which forms the front half of the noseband and the head piece.
1997 Your Horse Nov. 38/1 It does not need to be a full bridle, just a headpiece and bit with a good, strong lead.
6. Printing. An illustration, engraving, or other decorative element placed at the top of the first page of a book, or at the top or beginning of a page, chapter, etc. Cf. tailpiece n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > matter of book > [noun] > head-piece or tail-piece
vinet1630
tailpiece1707
headpiece1713
vignette1751
headband1893
1713 J. Watson in tr. J. de La Caille Hist. Art of Printing Pref. 9 Curiously cut Head-Pieces, Finis's, Blooming-Letters, Fac-totums, Flowers, &c .
1718 Free-thinker No. 70. 1 I am at a Loss for a Head-Piece to my Paper; to speak in the Printer's Language.
1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting I. iv. 93 This and several head-pieces in the same book were designed by Holbein.
1801 S. T. Coleridge Let. 27 Mar. (1956) II. 716 For this poem a friend..is now drawing for me..some head- and tail-pieces, representing the particular Scenes & Places, which are mentioned in the course of the Tale.
1866 W. T. Brande & G. W. Cox Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art (new ed.) II. 101/1 Headpieces have been revived of late years; they are mostly copied from old works.
1914 R. B. McKerrow in Trans. Bibliogr. Soc. 12 239 An ornament especially designed for the top of a page is called a ‘head-ornament’ or ‘head-piece’, and one for the foot of the page or the end of the matter occurring on it is called a ‘tail-ornament’ or ‘tail-piece’.
1976 Daily Tel. 24 Nov. 8/7 The manuscript..includes an illuminated headpiece and 30 miniatures in Qajar style.
2000 J. G. Nelson Publisher to Decadents 156 Beardsley..drew four delightful illustrations for the Pierrot: a frontispiece, headpiece, initial ‘P’, and tailpiece.
7. A ship's figurehead. Cf. head n.1 22a.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > fore part of vessel > [noun] > any part in front of stem > figure-head
figurehead1766
head1804
headpiece1807
family head1835
galley-nose1867
1807 ‘P. Plymley’ Two Lett. on Catholics i. 7 A wooden image of Lord Mulgrave going down to Chatham as a head-piece for the Spanker gun-vessel.
1879 A. Trollope in N. Amer. Rev. Sept. 219 There was a Drowne who carved head-pieces for ships in Boston.
1921 Publ. Buffalo Hist. Soc. 25 192 When fresh and new this ornamental headpiece must have been a gaudy object as it dipped and rose above the waves.
1998 M. Carver Sutton Hoo v. 123 Such a massive vessel would surely have been decorated..with an ornamented headpiece at the stem and a tailpiece at the stern.
8. On a bicycle, tricycle, etc.: the hollow tube enclosing the steering column; = head n.1 24c. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicle propelled by feet > [noun] > cycle > parts and equipment of cycles > frame and parts of
frame1869
fork1871
headpiece1877
head1881
frameset1899
dropout1923
crossbar1966
1877 Sci. Amer. Suppl. 24 Nov. 1569/1 The head piece and the hind fork are also not welded or brazed.
1886 Cycle 17 Sept. 407 (advt.) Trigwell's Patent Ball-Bearing Head... This well-appreciated head-piece, whose merits are so pronounced that no bicyclist should be without it.
1903 W. M. Camp Notes on Track 685 Its [sc. the brake lever's] position being just under the handle bars, at the side of the head piece of the frame, it does not show in the figure.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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