head of household
3
2.8
- noun
- /hɛd əv ˈhaʊsˌhoʊld/
:
jefe de familia
- As the head of household, she made decisions about the family budget and daily activities.
- taxpaying heads of household
- male head of household
- female head of household
So many people improperly file as single when they qualify to be filing as head of household.
- So many people improperly file as single when they qualify to be filing as head of household.
Examples
-
My job as a, as head of household is to take care of the economics of the household.
-
The location of land assignments was identified by heads of household to preserve previous band locations near water sources.
Academic text (1990) -
And what we also know is that single female head of household with children is huge.
-
"Excuse me, but would this be the head of household?" we heard our daddy ask.
Fiction book (1994) -
Under this agreement, each head of household received 100 acres for his or her family.
Academic text (2009) -
Thousands of children have been forced to become heads of households.
Academic text (2010) -
At the first household visit, the head of household was interviewed.
Academic text (2012) -
Household participation in the study was declined if the head of household did not provide consent for the household members.
Academic text (2012) -
In 1870, fewer than 8 percent of black heads of households owned any real property.
Academic text (2008) -
The head of household was interviewed regarding the household socioeconomic status, residential history, and environmental exposures.
Academic text (2012)
Synonyms
∞
2.2
A person who is in charge of a group or organization
How Authoritative
20
6.7
- Literature
1
9.9
3
2.8
∞
1.0
∞
1.0
645
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'head' (person who leads) combined with 'household' (people sharing a home), with 'of' linking the two, yields 'the person who leads or is responsible for the household'. This possessive/leader + group pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard noun-phrase composition, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The term head of household may come from the simple image of a family like a body: the head is the leader and the household is the family home. So, saying someone is head of household means they are 'in charge' of the home and family.