Long strands of hair twisted or matted together into rope-like locks.
From 'dread' (possibly referencing the appearance or the Rastafarian 'dread' meaning respect/fear of God) combined with 'locks' (strands of hair), emerging as a term in the 20th century.
Dreadlocks appear naturally in many cultures when hair isn't combed—ancient Egyptians, Hindu sadhus, and Norse Vikings all had them—but the modern name comes from Jamaican Rastafarian culture in the 1930s.
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