headword

noun

head·​word ˈhed-ˌwərd 

1

: a word or term placed at the beginning (as of a chapter or an entry in an encyclopedia)

2

: head sense 19

Examples of headword in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Often, in fact, that means using headwords and categories that are different from the actual words on the pages to which they’re linked. —Lauren Kane, The New York Review of Books, 17 June 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1727, in the meaning defined at sense 1