Blonde Hair Towhead Origin
Can anyone tell me the origin of the phrase towheaded child and what it s supposed to mean.
Blonde hair towhead origin. Tow has for centuries been used as a name for flax or hemp prepared for spinning from the morris dictionary of word and phrase origins by william and mary morris harpercollins publishers new york 1977 1988. The blond gene was detailed june 1 in the journal nature genetics. Towhead blond posted by esc on december 29 2000. The derived allele of kitlg associated with blond hair in modern europeans is present in several individuals of the ancient north eurasian ane lineage and is recorded in mesolithic eastern europe as associated with the eastern european hunter gatherer ehg lineage derived from ane.
Tow headed along with fair haired and flaxen haired is a tradional way in the english language to refer to blond hair or lightly colored hair having come from its old germanic roots which are quite rare. Towhead is a person usually a young person who has very blond hair almost flaxen or pale yellow. Since flax is light in color blond people especially children are sometimes referred to as towheads or towheaded expressions first recorded in the 19th century. Just what causes this change in hue.
A person with very light almost white blond hair tow being flax or hemp fibers. Towhead is a person usually a young person who has very blond hair almost flaxen or pale yellow. Some children start life as platinum blonds often called towheads but experience a darkening of hair color before they reach puberty. Tow has for.
The origin of the gene giving rise to blond hair color has been traced back to the last ice age 11 000 years ago. Posted by marcus on december 30 2000.