Hood Names a Head Covering and a Car Bonnet
A hood is a covering for the head. American English extended the word to the front of a car.
A hood is a covering for the head, usually attached to a garment. In American English it is also the hinged cover over a car's engine, where British English says bonnet — both words come from headwear, and the two languages simply chose different hats. The same pattern gave American *trunk* against British *boot*. The suffix *-hood* in *childhood* and *neighbourhood* is a different word, from Old English *had*, meaning condition or state.
- A head covering. *Pull up your hood.*
- A car's engine cover (US). *Under the hood.*
- A neighbourhood (informal). *The hood.*
- Hoodwink — to deceive. *Hoodwinked.*
- Old English — *hod*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | hood | A hood. |
| Plural | hoods | Hoods. |
| Adjective | hooded | Hooded. |
| Compound | hoodwink | To hoodwink. |
| Suffix | -hood | Childhood. |
- She pulled the hood over her head.Clothing.
- He looked under the hood.American.
- Childhood uses a different word.Suffix.
Where hoodwink comes from
- To hoodwink originally meant to blindfold
- A hood covered the eyes, and wink meant to close them
- Falconry used hoods to keep birds calm
- The sense of deceiving grew from blinding someone to the truth
- Recorded from the 1500s
Old English *hod*, of Germanic origin, related to *hat*. The suffix -hood is Old English *had*, a condition.
Is the -hood in childhood the same word?
No. That comes from Old English had, meaning a condition or state, and is unrelated to the head covering.
Where does hoodwink come from?
From blindfolding. A hood covered the eyes and wink meant to close them, so hoodwinking became deceiving.