HEAD - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

HEADAuthored

The Law Mind • 1128 words

Definition

HEAD carries several distinct legal meanings, each operating in a different doctrinal context.

Chief or principal person. The head of an organization, government department, household, or firm is the person bearing ultimate responsibility or authority within that structure. The phrase "head of household" appears across tax law, public benefits, family law, and procedural contexts, each with its own definition of who qualifies.

Principal source of a watercourse. In water law and boundary disputes, the head of a stream, creek, or river means its source — specifically, the origin of its longest branch absent contrary evidence from common reputation or usage. This technical meaning shapes land descriptions, grants, and riparian rights analysis.

Unit of count applied to persons. A sum reckoned "per head" or "a head" calculates liability, taxation, bounty, or entitlement by counting individuals in a designated class. The most prominent application is the capitation or poll tax — a tax levied at a fixed amount per person regardless of wealth or income. A related historical usage is the naval bounty offered under U.S. law for each person aboard an enemy vessel sunk or destroyed in engagement.

Headnote. In legal publishing, a headnote (sometimes shortened to "head" in older references) is the editorial summary of a point of law decided in a case, printed before the report of the opinion itself. These are editorial creations, not authoritative statements of law.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): To be in command of; to come at the front of; to move in a specified direction; to originate or spring, as a river has its course.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): The anterior or superior part of an animal containing the brain and chief sensory organs; the uppermost or most important part of an inanimate object; often the larger, thicker, or heavier part or extremity.

The anatomical and directional senses carry over into legal usage without significant distortion, but the legal contexts are narrower and more technical. A researcher who encounters "head" in a land grant or boundary description must read it as a term of art in water law, not a casual spatial reference. Similarly, "head" in a tax or revenue statute signals capitation calculation, not ordinary leadership.

Common Confusion

Headnotes versus holdings. Because headnotes precede the opinion text and summarize legal rules, researchers — particularly those working in older reporters — sometimes treat headnote language as binding or authoritative. It is not. Headnotes are editorial summaries, written by the reporter or publisher, and have no precedential value. Courts have occasionally expressly cautioned against citing headnotes in place of the opinion itself. In historical research, headnotes also vary across different report editions of the same case.

Head of household versus head of family. These phrases are used interchangeably in ordinary speech but carry distinct definitions in different legal regimes. Tax law defines "head of household" with precise qualifying criteria (filing status, dependents, cost-of-maintenance thresholds). Family law and public benefits programs use "head of household" or "head of family" with different and sometimes inconsistent standards. A definition operative in one context cannot be imported automatically into another.

Why It Matters in Research

The multiplicity of this term creates indexing and search hazards across the Law Mind corpus. A full-text search for "head" in historical sources will return noise from all four meanings simultaneously, plus generic usage. Researchers should always read for context before tagging or relying on a hit.

In water law and boundary materials, the head-of-stream meaning is critical to resolving ambiguities in colonial and early American land grants, which frequently described tracts by reference to the head of a named creek or branch. The Burrill and Bouvier entries both reflect a common-law default rule — head means longest branch — but acknowledge that community usage could override it. This tension appears in early Kentucky and Virginia case law and resurfaces wherever grants predating systematic survey are at issue.

In tax history, "per head" and "capitation" often appear together; the constitutional dimension of poll taxes (Article I, Section 9 limits on capitation taxes; the Twenty-Fourth Amendment's prohibition on poll taxes in federal elections) makes the term's precise meaning consequential in constitutional research.

The headnote meaning becomes important in historical case research: older reports were compiled and organized by private reporters whose headnotes varied in accuracy and sometimes shaped how later courts understood a case. Researchers using pre-West reporters should compare headnotes against opinion text.

The family/household head meaning intersects with filing status in federal and state income tax research. The Law Mind Family Law Encyclopedia entry on filing status is the primary reference for navigating modern tax definitions of this term.

Historical Dictionary Support

The historical dictionaries are largely consistent in structure but vary in emphasis. Black's (both editions) and Bouvier treat the water-source meaning as primary alongside the leadership sense. Anderson's distinctive contribution is the headnote definition — the only source among the five to address the legal publishing usage explicitly, and the only one to cross-reference SYLLABUS, which in some jurisdictions has a separate authoritative function (notably Ohio, where syllabus paragraphs in Supreme Court opinions carry binding weight).

Burrill contributes the most technical water-law framing, citing Kentucky authority for the longest-branch default rule. This is genuinely instructive for historical boundary research and is not replicated by the other dictionaries with the same precision.

Black's 2nd Edition adds the naval bounty usage — a narrow but historically specific application of the per-head calculation that the 1st Edition omits. This reflects statutory language from early U.S. naval prize law and is unlikely to appear in modern research but may surface in admiralty history or early federal statutory work.

None of the historical dictionaries address the tax filing status meaning of "head of household" in its modern form, as that framework developed through twentieth-century federal tax legislation. Researchers should not rely on historical dictionary definitions for that context.

Jurisdictional Note

The head-of-household filing status is defined by federal tax law and does not automatically carry the same definition in state tax codes, which may adopt, modify, or independently define the category. In water law, the head-of-stream default rule reflects common-law principles that may be displaced by state statute, survey practice, or recorded usage in individual jurisdictions.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

Tax Implications — Filing Status (Married, Single, Head of Household), Law Mind Family Law Encyclopedia

HEADmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

Chief; leading; principal; the upper part or principal source of a stream.

HEADmain

Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890

1. He who provides for a family, q. v. 2. The responsible person; the chief; the principal: as, the head of a department of government, q. v. 3. Compare CAPUT; POLL. Headnote. A statement of the points decided in a case, and preceding the printed report thereof. See SYLLABUS.

HEADmain

Burrill's Law Dictionary • 1870

[Lat. caput, q. v.] The upper part; the beginning or source. The head of a creek means the source of the longest branch, unless general reputation had given the appellation to another. 2 Bibb's R. 110.

HEADn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

The anterior or superior part of an animal, containing the brain, or chief ganglia of the nervous system, the mouth, and in the higher animals, the chief sensory organs; poll; cephalon. The uppermost, foremost, or most important part of an inanimate object; such a part as may be considered to resemble the head of an animal; often, also, the larger, thicker, or heavier part or extremity, in distinction from the smaller or thinner part, or from the point or edge; as, the head of a cane, a nail, a spear, an ax, a mast, a sail, a ship; that which covers and closes the top or the end of a hollow vessel; as, the head of a cask or a steam boiler. The place where the head should go; as, the head of a bed, of a grave, etc.; the head of a carriage, that is, the hood which covers the head. The most prominent or important member of any organized body; the chief; the leader; as, the head of a college, a school, a church, a state, and the like. "Their princes and heads." Robynson (More's Utopia). The heads of the chief sects of philosophy. Tillotson. Your head I him appoint. Milton. The place or honor, or of command; the most important or foremost position; the front; as, the head of the table; the head of a column of soldiers. An army of fourscore thousand troops, with the duke Marlborough at the head of them. Addison. Each one among many; an individual; -- often used in a plural sense; as, a thousand head of cattle. It there be six millions of people, there are about four acres for every head. Graunt. The seat of the intellect; the brain; the understanding; the mental faculties; as, a good head, that is, a good mind; it never entered his head, it did not occur to him; of his own head, of his own thought or will. Men who had lost both head and heart. Macaulay. The source, fountain, spring, or beginning, as of a stream or river; as, the head of the Nile; hence, the altitude of the source, or the height of the surface, as of water, above a given place, as above an orifice at which it issues, and the pressure resulting from the height or from motion; sometimes also, the quantity in reserve; as, a mill or reservoir has a good head of water, or ten feet head; also, that part of a gulf or bay most remote from the outlet or the sea. A headland; a promontory; as, Gay Head. Shak. A separate part, or topic, of a discourse; a theme to be expanded; a subdivision; as, the heads of a sermon. Culminating point or crisis; hence, strength; force; height. Ere foul sin, gathering head, shall break into corruption. Shak. The indisposition which has long hung upon me, is at last grown to such a head, that it must quickly make an end of me or of itself. Addison. Power; armed force. My lord, my lord, the French have gathered head. Shak. A headdress; a covering of the head; as, a laced head; a head of hair. Swift. An ear of wheat, barley, or of one of the other small cereals. A dense cluster of flowers, as in clover, daisies, thistles; a capitulum. A dense, compact mass of leaves, as in a cabbage or a lettuce plant. The antlers of a deer. A rounded mass of foam which rises on a pot of beer or other effervescing liquor. Mortimer. Tiles laid at the eaves of a house. Knight.

HEADa.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

Principal; chief; leading; first; as, the head master of a school; the head man of a tribe; a head chorister; a head cook.

HEADv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To be at the head of; to put one's self at the head of; to lead; to direct; to act as leader to; as, to head an army, an expedition, or a riot. Dryden. To form a head to; to fit or furnish with a head; as, to head a nail. Spenser. To behead; to decapitate. [Obs.] Shak. To cut off the top of; to lop off; as, to head trees. To go in front of; to get in the front of, so as to hinder or stop; to oppose; hence, to check or restrain; as, to head a drove of cattle; to head a person; the wind heads a ship. To set on the head; as, to head a cask. To head off, to intercept; to get before; as, an officer heads off a thief who is escaping.  -- To head up, to close, as a cask or barrel, by fitting a head to.

Headname

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

A surname from Middle English, from residence near a hilltop or the head of a river, or a byname for someone with an odd-looking head.

headverb

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

To be in command of. (See also head up.) | To come at the beginning or front of; to commence. | To strike with the head | To move in a specified direction. | To remove the head from (a fish). | To originate; to spring; to have its course, as a river. | To form a head. | To form a head (on or to); to fit or furnish (something) with a head. | To cut off the top of; to lop off. | To behead; to decapitate. | To go in front of. | To get in the front of, so as to hinder or stop; to oppose. | To check or restrain. | To set on the head.

headnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs. | The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs. | To do with heads. | Mental or emotional aptitude or skill. | The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs. | To do with heads. | Mind; one's own thoughts. | The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs. | To do with heads. | A headache; especially one resulting from intoxication. | The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs. | To do with heads. | A headdress; a covering for the head. | The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs. | To do with heads. | An individual person. | The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs. | To do with heads. | A single animal; measure word for livestock and game. | The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs. | To do with heads. | The population of game. | The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs. | To do with heads. | The antlers of a deer. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The end of a table. | The end of a rectangular table furthest from the entrance; traditionally considered a seat of honor. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The end of a table. | The end of a pool table opposite the end where the balls have been racked. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The principal operative part of a machine, tool or fastener. | The end of a hammer, axe, golf club, or similar implement used for striking other objects. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The principal operative part of a machine, tool or fastener. | The end of a nail, screw, bolt, or similar fastener which is opposite the point; usually blunt and relatively wide. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The principal operative part of a machine, tool or fastener. | The larger-diameter end of an unused rivet, properly the factory head or ambiguously the shop head, as opposed to the bucktail which is passed through the items to be fastened and then upset into an appropriate shape, generally pancake-shaped for a solid rivet or doughnut-shaped for a blind rivet, called the field head or ambiguously the shop head. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The principal operative part of a machine, tool or fastener. | Either, or in plural both, ends of a used rivet, the factory head and the field head. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The principal operative part of a machine, tool or fastener. | The sharp end of an arrow, spear, or pointer. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The principal operative part of a machine, tool or fastener. | The top part of a lacrosse stick that holds the ball. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The principal operative part of a machine, tool or fastener. | A drum head, the membrane which is hit to produce sound. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The principal operative part of a machine, tool or fastener. | A machine element which reads or writes electromagnetic signals to or from a storage medium. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The principal operative part of a machine, tool or fastener. | The part of a disk drive responsible for reading and writing data. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The principal operative part of a machine, tool or fastener. | The cylinder head, a platform above the cylinders in an internal combustion engine, containing the valves and spark plugs. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The principal operative part of a machine, tool or fastener. | A milling head, a part of a milling machine that houses the spindle. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The foam that forms on top of beer or other carbonated beverages. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The end cap of a cylindrically-shaped pressure vessel. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The end cap of a cask or other barrel. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The uppermost part of a valley. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | Deposits near the top of a geological succession. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | Ellipsis of headline. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The end of an abscess where pus collects. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | The headstock of a guitar. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | A leading component. | The top edge of a sail. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | A leading component. | The bow of a vessel. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | A headland. | The topmost, foremost, or leading part. | A title or heading in a book or other document. | A leader or expert. | A leader or expert. | The place of honor or command; the most important or foremost position; the front. | A leader or expert. | A headteacher. | A leader or expert. | A person with an extensive knowledge of hip hop. | A significant or important part. | A beginning or end, a protuberance. | The source of a river; the end of a lake where a river flows into it. | A significant or important part. | A beginning or end, a protuberance. | A clump of seeds, leaves or flowers; a capitulum. | A significant or important part. | A beginning or end, a protuberance. | A clump of seeds, leaves or flowers; a capitulum. | An ear of wheat, barley, or other small cereal. | A significant or important part. | A beginning or end, a protuberance. | A clump of seeds, leaves or flowers; a capitulum. | The leafy top part of a tree. | A significant or important part. | A beginning or end, a protuberance. | The rounded part of a bone fitting into a depression in another bone to form a ball-and-socket joint. | A significant or important part. | A beginning or end, a protuberance. | The toilet of a ship. | A significant or important part. | A beginning or end, a protuberance. | Tiles laid at the eaves of a house. | A significant or important part. | A component. | The principal melody or theme of a piece. | A significant or important part. | A component. | A morpheme that determines the category of a compound or the word that determines the syntactic type of the phrase of which it is a member. | A significant or important part. | A component. | The first fraction of a distillation run, having a low boiling point. | Headway; progress. | Topic; subject. | Denouement; crisis. | Pressure and energy. | A buildup of fluid pressure, often quantified as pressure head. | Pressure and energy. | The difference in elevation between two points in a column of fluid, and the resulting pressure of the fluid at the lower point. | Pressure and energy. | More generally, energy in a mass of fluid divided by its weight. | Fellatio or cunnilingus; oral sex. | The glans penis. | A heavy or habitual user of illicit drugs. | Power; armed force.

Explore the full Law Mind legal research platform.

Subscribe Encyclopedia Sign In