Unhead

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To take the lid or end piece off a cask or barrel ; to cut off the head of a person or animal
2. Removing the end panel from a barrel or keg ; decapitating someone by severing their head from the body
3. Prying off the top of a cask ; separating a head from its body by beheading

Etymology: The verb "unhead" is a plain formation: the prefix "un-" joined to "head" in its old sense of a cask's top or lid. Its two meanings follow that same logic. The first, removing the head or top from a barrel, is the literal sense the word was built on. The second, cutting a person's head off, is a grim extension of the same idea, treating the head as a removable part, much as one would take the lid off a vessel. Because "un-" attaches to many verbs in English to mean "reverse" or "remove", "unhead" follows the pattern of forms like "unhorse" or "unseat", which strip something from its usual place. The word is a transparent compound, so its meaning is easy to read from its parts.