heed

Etymology

From Middle English hēden, from Old English hēdan (“to heed, take care, observe, attend, guard, take charge, take possession, receive”), from Proto-Germanic *hōdijaną (“to heed, guard”), from Proto-Indo-European *kadʰ- (“to heed, protect”). Cognate with West Frisian hoedje (“to heed”), Dutch hoeden (“to heed”), German hüten (“to heed”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hiːd/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -iːd
• Homophone: he'd

Noun

heed (uncountable)

1. Careful attention.
   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4

     Then for a few minutes I did not pay much heed to what was said, being terribly straitened for room, and cramped with pain from lying so long in one place.

Verb

heed (third-person singular simple present heeds, present participle heeding, simple past and past participle heeded)

1. (obsolete) To guard, protect.
2. (transitive) To mind; to regard with care; to take notice of; to attend to; to observe.
   • Dryden

     With pleasure Argus the musician heeds.

   • 2013 September 23, Masha Gessen, "Life in a Russian Prison," New York Times (retrieved 24 September 2013):

     Tolokonnikova not only tried to adjust to life in the penal colony but she even tried to heed the criticism levied at her by colony representatives during a parole hearing.

3. (intransitive, archaic) To pay attention, care.

Anagrams

• ehed, hede

Alternative forms

• hed, heved, heaved

Etymology

From Old English hēafod.

Noun

heed (plural heeds)

1. head (anatomy)

References

p. 1, Arthur; A Short Sketch of his Life and History in English Verse of the First Half of the Fifteenth Century, Frederick Furnivall ed. EETS. Trübner & Co.: London. 1864.