forelock

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English *forelock, *forelok, from Old English forelocc, equivalent to fore- +‎ lock.

Noun

forelock (plural forelocks)

1. The part of a person's hairstyle which covers the forehead.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 300-303:

     His fair large front and eye sublime declared / Absolute rule; and hyacinthine locks / Round from his parted forelock manly hung / Clustering, but not beneath his shoulders broad:

   • 1734, The Koran: Commonly Called the Alkoran of Mohammed, translated by George Sale, Sura 96, Congealed Blood, [1]

     Doth he not know that GOD seeth? / Assuredly. Verily, if he forbear not, we will drag him by the forelock, / the lying, sinful forelock. / And let him call his council to assistance: / we also will call the infernal guards to cast him into hell.

   • 1896, A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad‎^[2], section XXXVIII:

     Warm with the blood of lads I know / Comes east the sighing air. / / It fanned their temples, filled their lungs, / Scattered their forelocks free;

   • 1978, Edmund White, chapter VIII, in Nocturnes for the King of Naples, New York: St. Martin's Press, page 135:

     This little boy, still flicking his head to one side between sentences though the long blond forelock that once excused the tic had been cut […]

2. The part of a horse's (or similar animal's) mane that lies on its forehead.
   • 1898, Ivan Turgenev, translated by Constance Garnett, A Lear of the Steppes and Other Stories‎^[3], New York: Macmillan, page 146:

     […] the gates themselves slowly parted, there appeared a large horse's head, with a plaited forelock under a decorated yoke, and slowly there rolled into the road a small cart, like those driven by horse-dealers, and higglers.

   • 1945, George Orwell, chapter 5, in Animal Farm‎^[4]:

     Even Boxer was vaguely troubled. He set his ears back, shook his forelock several times, and tried hard to marshal his thoughts; but in the end he could not think of anything to say.

Synonyms

• (part of hairstyle): bangs (US), fringe (UK)
• (part of horse's mane): foretop

Derived terms

• forelocked
• forelocking
• take time by the forelock
• tug one's forelock, pull one's forelock, touch one's forelock

Translations

hair that hangs over the forehead

• Azerbaijani: biçək
• Bulgarian: перчем (bg) m (perčem)
• Catalan: serrell m
• Czech: ofina f
• Finnish: otsatukka (fi)
• French: frange (fr)
• Galician: guedelleira f, liceira f, milfeira f
• German: Stirnhaar n, Stirnlocke f
• Greek:

  Ancient: προκόμιον n (prokómion)

• Italian: frangia (it) f, frangetta f, ciuffo (it) m
• Maori: puahau
• Polish: grzywka (pl) f
• Portuguese: franja (pt) f
• Spanish: flequillo (es) m
• Swedish: lugg (sv) c
• Yiddish: טשופּ m (tshup), טשופּרינע f (tshuprine)

front part of a mane

• Catalan: serrell m
• Finnish: otsaharja
• French: toupet (fr) m
• Italian: ciuffo (it) m
• Kazakh: кекіл (kekıl)
• Polish: grzywa (pl) f
• Russian: чёлка (ru) f (čólka)
• Spanish: copete (es) m

Etymology 2

From Middle English forelok, equivalent to fore- +‎ lock.

Noun

forelock (plural forelocks)

1. A wedge pushed through a hole at the end of a bolt to hold it in place.

Verb

forelock (third-person singular simple present forelocks, present participle forelocking, simple past and past participle forelocked)

1. To fix in place with a forelock (wedge)
   • 1835, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 14, in The Monikins‎^[5]:

     At one extremity each pair was firmly connected by a short, massive, iron link, of about two feet in length; and, at its opposite end, a large eye-bolt was driven into each stick, where it was securely forelocked.