dreadlocks

English
WOTD – 5 February 2024

Etymology
PIE word
*h₂énts
A woman with dreadlocks.
The Jamaican musician Bob Marley with his hair in dreadlocks.

Borrowed from Jamaican Creole dreadlocks, from dread (“of or relating to a dread”, adjective) (from dread (“(usually black) male member of the Rastafarian movement who wears his hair in dreadlocks”, noun), from English dread (“reverential or respectful fear; awe”), referring to the awe inspired by God) + English locks (plural of lock (“length or tuft of hair”)).[1] The English word is analysable as dread (“Rastafarian”, attributive) +‎ locks.[2]

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈdɹɛdlɒks/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈdɹɛdˌlɑks/
  • Hyphenation: dread‧locks

Noun

dreadlocks pl (normally plural, singular dreadlock)

  1. A hairstyle worn by Rastafarians and others in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into matted strings.
    Synonyms: dreads, locks
    • 2021, Oma N. Agbai, Jodie Raffi, “Hair Loss in Women of Color”, in Becky S. Li, Howard I. Maibach, editors, Ethnic Skin and Hair and Other Cultural Considerations (Updates in Clinical Dermatology), Cham, Zug, Switzerland: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 154, column 2:
      The patient history may point to the use of tight hairstyles that put tension on the hair root or hair treatments that increase the vulnerability to traction-related damage. The physician should evaluate for a history of tight ponytails, buns, chignons, braids, twists, weaves, cornrows, dreadlocks, sisterlocks, and hair wefts in addition to the usage of religious hair coverings.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

dreadlocks

  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of dreadlock

References
  1. Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), “dreadlocks, n (phr) pl”, in Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 203, column 1; Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), “dread1, n; dread2, adj”, in Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 202, column 2.
  2. “dreadlocks, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “dreadlocks, plural n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

Noun

dreadlocks

  1. plural of dreadlock

Portuguese

Noun

dreadlocks m

  1. plural of dreadlock
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