headword

About 0.05 uses per million words.

Meaning

1. noun A word (or compound term) used as the title of a list entry or section, particularly in a dictionary, encyclopedia, or thesaurus.
2. noun The head of a phrase.

   In "a very discerning car shopper", "shopper" is the headword.

Similar words

headterm heading head running head headwidth headpiece header headhood headpeace waterhead

Often followed by

is in of and list or status as to

Word family

headwords