headstall

English

Etymology

From head +‎ stall.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛdstɔːl/

Noun

headstall (plural headstalls)

1. The part of a bridle that fits over a horse's head and supports other elements. [from 14th c.]
   • c. 1593 William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Act III, Scene 2,^[1]

     Why, Petruchio is coming […] his horse hipp’d […] with a half-cheek’d bit, and a head-stall of sheep’s leather which, being restrained to keep him from stumbling, hath been often burst, and now repaired with knots […]

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.3:

     Another, that would seeme to have more wit, / Him by the bright embrodered hed-stall tooke […].

   • 1952, John Steinbeck, East of Eden, Penguin, 2003, Chapter 15, Part 4, p. 172,^[2]

     He turned back, slipped the bit in Dox’s mouth, and laced the big flop ears into the headstall.

   • 1989, Keith Bosley, translating Elias Lönnrot, The Kalevala, XIX:

     Then the smith Ilmarinen / the everlasting craftsman / out of steel formed a bridle / forged a headstall [translating ] of iron […].

2. (obsolete) A phorbeia. [18th-19th c.]

Synonyms

• headpiece
• headcollar

Translations

part of the bridle that fits over the horse's head

• Bulgarian: оглавник m (oglavnik)
• Finnish: niskahihna, päitset
• French: têtière (fr) f
• Galician: trenla (gl) f, xácoma f, ronzal m, ramal m, cabresto m
• German: Stallhalfter f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: καπίστρι (el) n (kapístri)
• Hungarian: tarkószíj
• Macedonian: огламник m (oglamnik), оглав m (oglav)
• Spanish: cabestro (es) m

References

Baranowski, Zdzislaw, "The International Horseman's Dictionary", Pitman Publishing, New York, 1955

Stratton, Charles, "The International Horseman's Dictionary", Hamlyn Publishing, Melbourne, 1975

Summerhayes, R.S., "Encyclopedia for Horsemen", Frederick Warne & Co., London and New York, 1966