Redhead

How to spell redhead

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce redhead

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does redhead mean?

1. nounA person who has red or ginger hair.

Redhead in a sentence

• The casting director wanted a redhead for the lead role.

• As a redhead, she always carried sunscreen for her fair skin.

Where does redhead come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent English compound, joining the colour word 'red' with 'head', both of which are native Germanic words of long standing. 'Red' descends from the Old English read, which itself goes back to a Proto-Germanic root that meant the colour red and is related to the Latin ruber and even the Sanskrit rudhira 'blood', reflecting how the colour was anciently tied to the look of blood. 'Head' comes from Old English heafod, the word for the top of the body and, by extension, the hair that grows there. Put together, the compound simply names a person whose hair is red; it has been used in English since at least the 1600s, and the spelling holds no surprises because each half is spelled exactly as it sounds. The only thing to watch is that it is written as one solid word, not 'red head', when it means a person.

How the word is built

• red (colour)
• head (the head/hair)