headspring means A fountainhead; a source. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 85 out of 100.
Why this word is great
HEADSPRING — [Noun, Verb] The precise point where a stream emerges from the ground; a gymnastic vault initiated from a headstand. From Middle English, a compound of head (meaning the top or source) and spring (meaning a source of water or a leap). Unlike “fountainhead,” which casts a long, ideological shadow, or the placeless abstraction of “source,” headspring is a word of dual, grounded specificity. It is the cold, clear seep among mossy stones that darkens the earth; the inverted, breath-held coil before the sudden push into flight; the first, undeniable thought from which a philosophy will meander. Every mighty flow begins in a singular, vulnerable convergence of force and emergence.
noun
- A fountainhead; a source.“Now you can follow the current downstream from the headspring to the Silver River's confluence with the Ocklawaha, rather than beating your way upstream from the Ocklawaha all the way to the headspring.”
- A basis or foundation.“Much less can we afford to follow them into the fantastic combination in which they have been sometimes represented as constituting a sort of barbarian headspring to the liberty of civilized men ; to whom politic society is thought to be a means of preserving, in part only, a freedom enjoyed by savages in much larger measure, nay in perfect plenitude.”
- A move in which the gymnast places both hands on the mat with the top of the head about 6 inches in front, pushes off with the hands while flipping the legs overhead, and lands on the feet.“The technique in continuous headsprings is rather different from that employed in performing a single headspring in that the head and hands are closer together, thus reducing resistance to forward rotation and enabling fast acceleration to take place.”
- A spring that sits at the top of a mechanism, pushing the internal parts inward.“Remove the four screws from bottom of tube, then headspring and bottom assembly can be removed through bottom of tube.”
verb
- To perform a headspring.“Cartwheel with quarter-turn (Arabian Spring) ; roll back with closed feet into momentary handstand (back extension) ; front standing balance and with a leap, change the position of the feet; place hands on floor and do a momentary handstand; lie down on the front and rock backwards and forward, and do a cross-scissors with the legs on the forward movement; sit up with half-turn, bend forward twice”