Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

headship

/hˈɛdʃˌɪp/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.23 in modern English

Syllables: head-ship
IPA: /hˈɛdʃˌɪp/

17

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The position of a head or chief.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The position of a headmaster or headmistress.

British usage; Countable; Uncountable

noun

Authority or dignity.

Archaic; Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"And if you say that this enslavement of Woman has nothing to do with religion[…]then listen to the Vicar of Crantock, preaching at St. Crantock's, London, Aug. 27th, 1905, and explaining why women must cover their heads in church: […] (7) The headship of man and woman. The head of every man is Christ, but the head of the woman is man."
"[…] shows Dorothy Ranaghan explaining how some female followers of the faith group cried intensely in reaction to the group’s early teachings on “headship” and the “roles of men and women”, in which men are considered divinely ordained as the “head” of the family and dominant to women."

Etymology

From head + -ship. Piecewise doublet of chiefship.

Word Breakdown

Root: *kap-
Suffix: head

Usage

Inflected Forms

headships (plural)

Synonyms

headmastership

Questions

How do you pronounce headship?: The recorded pronunciation is /hˈɛdʃˌɪp/.
What does headship mean?: The position of a head or chief.
Where does headship come from?: From head + -ship. Piecewise doublet of chiefship.

How to pronounce headship

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “headship”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/hˈɛdʃˌɪp/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “headship”.
Repeat and practice — Say “headship” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.