An archaic nautical term for a wooden block or spar projecting from a ship's side, used in the rigging system.
Compound of 'dead' (fixed, immovable) and 'head' (projection). This Old English maritime term combined 'dead' meaning stationary with 'head' meaning a projecting point, as these blocks did not move like other rigging elements.
In the era of wooden sailing ships, experienced sailors had dozens of specific names for different parts and fittings—'deadlihead' is one that barely survived into modern English, lost when ships went from wood and rope to steel and engines.
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