headsman

Etymology

From Middle English heddysman, equivalent to head + -s- + -man. Cognate with Scots hedisman, heidisman (“head man; chief; commander”). Compare also Danish høvedsmand (“captain”), Swedish hövitsman (“captain”), Icelandic höfuðsmaður (“captain”), German Hauptmann (“captain”).

noun

  1. (obsolete or Scotland) A chief person; a head man
  2. An executioner whose method of dispatching the condemned is decapitation.
  3. (mining, historical) A labourer in a colliery who transports the coal from the workings to the horseway, and who is oftentimes assisted by a younger worker called a foal.
  4. (nautical) One in command of a whaling vessel.

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