Headling

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A rope or strap fitted around an animal's head, used for guiding and controlling it while leading
2. A device of rope or leather placed over an animal's head to enable a person to direct its movement
3. Straps or cord arranged around an animal's head for the purpose of leading it along

Etymology: The word "headling" has two separate histories that happen to share a spelling. The first is a noun that began in Old English as "hēafodling," meaning an equal or fellow servant. It was built from "head" and the suffix "-ling," and it is a close relative of German "Häuptling," meaning chief or chieftain. Over time it passed through Middle English forms, and it sits alongside the related words "chefling" and "chiefling," which came into English from the same Old French and Latin source by a different route. The second history is an adverb and was once spelled "hevedlynge" or "heedling." It meant "headlong," falling or rushing forward with the head first. Its nearest relatives are the Scots "heidlingis" and the Middle High German "houbetlingen," both carrying the same sense of head-first motion. The "-ling" ending here marks a direction or manner, a pattern that also gives English words like "sideling" and "darkling."