Etymology -- godhead and maidenhead

There are just two extant English words that use the Middle English suffix -head. What are they?

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Answer: godhead and maidenhead

The suffix -head carries the same sense as the suffix -hood. Thus, godhead is god-hood, the state of being a god, and maidenhead is maidenhood, the state of being a maiden - i.e. a virgin.

Note that the suffix -head is not the same as the combining form -head, as in masthead. Combining forms CREATE the sense of the word (e.g., the bio- in biology), whereas prefixes and suffixes modify a pre-existing sense.

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Feedback

What about bridgehead? The "-head" in "bridgehead" isn't a suffix.

x- gregfelton.@.shaw.ca

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Hey! Let's not get ahead of ourselves. And, what about Ayn Rand's Fountainhead? The "-head" in "Fountainhead" isn't a suffix.

x-EverPsyPgh.@.aol.com feedback:

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I liked your explanation of prefixes and suffixes modifying a pre-existing sense as opposed to combinations that create the sense of a word. Thanks.

x-belstrauss.@.yahoo.com

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I thought of beachhead and redhead, but I can see now that they also don't qualify as suffixes.

x- jpmackay.@.sympatico.ca

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You're right in your distinction between words created through suffixes and prefixes, where the newly coined words nevertheless have a single discernible "stem," and compound words, where the constituent words are, shall we say, equal partners in a joint venture.

x-jacko,@,lycos.com

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