"fiddlehead" meaning in English

See fiddlehead in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈfɪdəlˌhɛd/ [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-fiddlehead.wav Forms: fiddleheads [plural]
Etymology: From fiddle + head. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|fiddle|head}} fiddle + head Head templates: {{en-noun}} fiddlehead (plural fiddleheads)
  1. The scroll-shaped decoration at the tip of a fiddle. Wikidata QID: Q1116074 Synonyms: scroll
    Sense id: en-fiddlehead-en-noun-en:Q1116074
  2. A similar scroll-shaped ornament on a ship's bow. Coordinate_terms: figurehead
    Sense id: en-fiddlehead-en-noun-en:scroll_shaped_ornament_on_a_ship_s_bow
  3. The furled fronds of a young fern, sometimes harvested for food consumption. Wikidata QID: Q3546960 Synonyms: circinate vernation, crosier, tete de violin, tete-de-violin, violin head Translations (food): crosse de fougère (French), tête-de-violon (French), pucuk paku (Malay), pikopiko (Maori), pastorał [masculine] (Polish)
    Sense id: en-fiddlehead-en-noun-en:Q3546960 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with French translations, Terms with Malay translations, Terms with Maori translations, Terms with Polish translations, Ferns, Vegetables Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 21 22 57 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 19 19 62 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 11 10 79 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 10 9 81 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 24 22 55 Disambiguation of Terms with Malay translations: 17 20 62 Disambiguation of Terms with Maori translations: 17 20 62 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 20 22 59 Disambiguation of Ferns: 5 5 89 Disambiguation of Vegetables: 7 7 86 Disambiguation of 'food': 23 19 58
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: fiddleback, fiddleneck, filicoid, filicology

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fiddle",
        "3": "head"
      },
      "expansion": "fiddle + head",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From fiddle + head.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fiddleheads",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fiddlehead (plural fiddleheads)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "fiddleback"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "fiddleneck"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "filicoid"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "filicology"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The scroll-shaped decoration at the tip of a fiddle."
      ],
      "id": "en-fiddlehead-en-noun-en:Q1116074",
      "links": [
        [
          "fiddle",
          "fiddle"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:Q1116074"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "scroll"
        }
      ],
      "wikidata": [
        "Q1116074"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "word": "figurehead"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              331,
              341
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1923, Charles Boardman Hawes, The Dark Frigate, Chapter 6:",
          "text": "Such a ship as the Rose of Devon frigate, standing out for the open sea, is a sight the world no longer affords. Those ships are “gone, gone, gone with lost Atlantis.” Their lofty poops, their little bonaventure masts, their lateen sails aft, their high forecastles and tall bowsprits with the square spritsail flaunted before the fiddlehead, came down from an even earlier day",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A similar scroll-shaped ornament on a ship's bow."
      ],
      "id": "en-fiddlehead-en-noun-en:scroll_shaped_ornament_on_a_ship_s_bow",
      "links": [
        [
          "ornament",
          "ornament"
        ],
        [
          "ship",
          "ship"
        ],
        [
          "bow",
          "bow"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:scroll-shaped ornament on a ship_s bow"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "21 22 57",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 19 62",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 10 79",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 9 81",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "24 22 55",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 20 62",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Malay translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 20 62",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Maori translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 22 59",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "5 5 89",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Ferns",
          "orig": "en:Ferns",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 7 86",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Vegetables",
          "orig": "en:Vegetables",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The furled fronds of a young fern, sometimes harvested for food consumption."
      ],
      "id": "en-fiddlehead-en-noun-en:Q3546960",
      "links": [
        [
          "furl",
          "furl"
        ],
        [
          "frond",
          "frond"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:Q3546960"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "circinate vernation"
        },
        {
          "word": "crosier"
        },
        {
          "word": "tete de violin"
        },
        {
          "word": "tete-de-violin"
        },
        {
          "word": "violin head"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "23 19 58",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "food",
          "word": "crosse de fougère"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "23 19 58",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "food",
          "word": "tête-de-violon"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "23 19 58",
          "code": "ms",
          "lang": "Malay",
          "lang_code": "ms",
          "sense": "food",
          "word": "pucuk paku"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "23 19 58",
          "code": "mi",
          "lang": "Maori",
          "lang_code": "mi",
          "sense": "food",
          "word": "pikopiko"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "23 19 58",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "food",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pastorał"
        }
      ],
      "wikidata": [
        "Q3546960"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfɪdəlˌhɛd/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-fiddlehead.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cc/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-fiddlehead.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-fiddlehead.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cc/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-fiddlehead.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-fiddlehead.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fiddlehead"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 3-syllable words",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Malay translations",
    "Terms with Maori translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "en:Ferns",
    "en:Vegetables"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fiddle",
        "3": "head"
      },
      "expansion": "fiddle + head",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From fiddle + head.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "fiddleheads",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "fiddlehead (plural fiddleheads)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "fiddleback"
    },
    {
      "word": "fiddleneck"
    },
    {
      "word": "filicoid"
    },
    {
      "word": "filicology"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The scroll-shaped decoration at the tip of a fiddle."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fiddle",
          "fiddle"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:Q1116074"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "scroll"
        }
      ],
      "wikidata": [
        "Q1116074"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "word": "figurehead"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              331,
              341
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1923, Charles Boardman Hawes, The Dark Frigate, Chapter 6:",
          "text": "Such a ship as the Rose of Devon frigate, standing out for the open sea, is a sight the world no longer affords. Those ships are “gone, gone, gone with lost Atlantis.” Their lofty poops, their little bonaventure masts, their lateen sails aft, their high forecastles and tall bowsprits with the square spritsail flaunted before the fiddlehead, came down from an even earlier day",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A similar scroll-shaped ornament on a ship's bow."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "ornament",
          "ornament"
        ],
        [
          "ship",
          "ship"
        ],
        [
          "bow",
          "bow"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:scroll-shaped ornament on a ship_s bow"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The furled fronds of a young fern, sometimes harvested for food consumption."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "furl",
          "furl"
        ],
        [
          "frond",
          "frond"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:Q3546960"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "circinate vernation"
        },
        {
          "word": "crosier"
        },
        {
          "word": "tete de violin"
        },
        {
          "word": "tete-de-violin"
        },
        {
          "word": "violin head"
        }
      ],
      "wikidata": [
        "Q3546960"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈfɪdəlˌhɛd/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-fiddlehead.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cc/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-fiddlehead.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-fiddlehead.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cc/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-fiddlehead.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-fiddlehead.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "food",
      "word": "crosse de fougère"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "food",
      "word": "tête-de-violon"
    },
    {
      "code": "ms",
      "lang": "Malay",
      "lang_code": "ms",
      "sense": "food",
      "word": "pucuk paku"
    },
    {
      "code": "mi",
      "lang": "Maori",
      "lang_code": "mi",
      "sense": "food",
      "word": "pikopiko"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "food",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pastorał"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fiddlehead"
}

Download raw JSONL data for fiddlehead meaning in English (3.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (96027d6 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.