where did the term towhead come from?

Top 5 Answers

A few days ago

pepper

Favorite Answer

Tow means “flax or hemp fiber”, and so tow headed is literally “flaxen haired”. This meaning of tow comes from Middle Low German touw (which means “flax, hemp fiber”). This probably went back to the prehistoric Germanic base *tow-, *taw “make, prepare” (source also of English tool), in the sense “make yarn from wool; spin”. (Other variations are towhead and, though incorrect, toehead.)

http://www.takeourword.com/Issue047.html

I was one. 😛

A few days ago

greyguy

“Tow” is an old term for pieces of flax or hemp which are to be spun into yarn (flax is the plant from which linen is made). The fibers are coarse and of relatively short length. They are also a very light yellow or off-white.

As a result, a “towhead” is someone with very whitish blond hair – usually a child, as hair tends to darken during adolescence.

The term is pretty rare nowadays.

A few days ago

kiki

A towhead refers to a person with light blond hair. This is based on the hair’s resemblance to tow which is coarse or broken flax prepared for spinning.

A few days ago

Anonymous

This is based on a blonde persons hair to tow which is coarse or broken flax prepared for spinning.

A few days ago

♥RealLove

Well, doesn’t that mean a person who’s blonde…idk.

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where did the term towhead come from?

where did the term towhead come from?

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