heed (n.) Look up heed at Dictionary.com
"attention, notice, regard," early 14c., apparently from heed (v.). Survives only in literal use and as the object of verbs (take heed, etc.).
heed (v.) Look up heed at Dictionary.com
Old English hedan "to heed, observe; to take care, attend," from West Germanic *hodjan (cognates: Old Saxon hodian, Old Frisian hoda, Middle Dutch and Dutch hoeden, Old High German huotan, German hüten "to guard, watch"), from PIE *kadh- "to shelter, cover" (see hat). Related: Heeded; heeding.
heedful (adj.) Look up heedful at Dictionary.com
1540s, from heed + -ful.
heedless (adj.) Look up heedless at Dictionary.com
"without regard," 1570s, from heed + -less. Related: Heedlessly; heedlessness.
gumption (n.) Look up gumption at Dictionary.com
1719, originally Scottish, "common sense, shrewdness," also "drive, initiative," possibly connected with Middle English gome "attention, heed," from Old Norse gaumr "heed, attention." Sense of "initiative" is first recorded 1812.
scout (v.1) Look up scout at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "observe or explore as a scout, travel in search of information," from Old French escouter "to listen, heed" (Modern French écouter), from Latin auscultare "to listen to, give heed to" (see auscultate). Related: Scouted; scouting.
warn (v.) Look up warn at Dictionary.com
Old English warnian "to give notice of impending danger," also intransitive, "to take heed," from Proto-Germanic *war-non (cognates: Old Norse varna "to admonish," Old High German warnon "to take heed," German warnen "to warn"), from PIE *wer- (5) "to cover" (see weir). Related: Warned; warning.
reck (n.) Look up reck at Dictionary.com
"care, heed, consideration," 1560s, from reck (v.).
caveat (n.) Look up caveat at Dictionary.com
1540s, from Latin, literally "let him beware," 3rd person singular present subjunctive of cavere "to beware, take heed, watch, guard against," from PIE root *skeue- "to pay attention, perceive" (cognates: Sanskrit kavih "wise, sage, seer, poet;" Lithuanian kavoti "tend, safeguard;" Armenian cucanem "I show;" Latin cautio "wariness;" Greek koein "to mark, perceive, hear," kydos "glory, fame," literally "that which is heard of;" Old Church Slavonic chujo "to feel, perceive, hear," cudo "wonder," literally "that which is heard of;" Czech (z)koumati "to perceive, be aware of;" Serbian chuvati "watch, heed;" Old English sceawian "to look at" (source of show (v.)); Middle Dutch schoon "beautiful, bright," properly "showy;" Gothic hausjan "hear").
reck (v.) Look up reck at Dictionary.com
Old English reccan (2) "take care of, be interested in, care for; have regard to, take heed of; to care, heed; desire (to do something)" (strong verb, past tense rohte, past participle rought), from West Germanic *rokjan, from Proto-Germanic *rokja- (cognates: Old Saxon rokjan, Middle Dutch roeken, Old Norse rækja "to care for," Old High German giruochan "to care for, have regard to," German geruhen "to deign," which is influenced by ruhen "to rest").
And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn. [J.R.R. Tolkien, "Return of the King," 1955]
The -k- sound is probably a northern influence from Norse. No known cognates outside Germanic. "From its earliest appearance in Eng., reck is almost exclusively employed in negative or interrogative clauses" [OED]. Related: Recked; recking.
gormless (adj.) Look up gormless at Dictionary.com
c.1746, "wanting sense," a British dialectal word, from gome "notice, understanding" (c.1200), from Old Norse gaumr "care, heed," of unknown origin; + -less.
unguarded (adj.) Look up unguarded at Dictionary.com
1590s, "not furnished with a guard," from un- (1) "not" + guarded. Sense of "not on one's guard, not taking heed" is attested from 1630s.
attendee (n.) Look up attendee at Dictionary.com
"one who attends" (something), 1961, from attend + -ee. Attender is older (mid-15c.) but had senses "one who waits upon" and "one who gives heed."
unheeded (adj.) Look up unheeded at Dictionary.com
1610s, from un- (1) "not" + past participle of heed (v.).
keep (n.) Look up keep at Dictionary.com
mid-13c., "care or heed in watching," from keep (v.). Meaning "innermost stronghold of a tower" is from 1580s, perhaps a translation of Italian tenazza, with a notion of "that which keeps" (someone or something); the sense of "food required to keep a person or animal" is attested from 1801. For keeps "completely, for good" is American English colloquial, from 1861.
cure (n.1) Look up cure at Dictionary.com
c.1300, "care, heed," from Latin cura "care, concern, trouble," with many figurative extensions, such as "study; administration; a mistress," and also "means of healing, remedy," from Old Latin coira-, from PIE root *kois- "be concerned." Meaning "medical care" is late 14c.
gaze (v.) Look up gaze at Dictionary.com
late 14c., probably of Scandinavian origin (compare Norwegian, Swedish dialectal gasa "to gape"), perhaps related somehow to Old Norse ga "heed" (see gawk). Related: Gazed; gazing.
circumspect (adj.) Look up circumspect at Dictionary.com
early 15c., from Latin circumspectus "deliberate, guarded, well-considered," past participle of circumspicere "look around, take heed," from circum- "around" (see circum-) + specere "to look" (see scope (n.1)). Related: Circumspectly; circumspectness.
regard (n.) Look up regard at Dictionary.com
mid-14c., "a consideration; a judgment," from Old French regard, from regarder "take notice of," from re-, intensive prefix + garder "look, heed," from Germanic (see guard (n.)). Meanings "a look, appearance; respect, esteem, favor, kindly feeling which springs from a consideration of estimable qualities" all recorded late 14c. Phrase in regard to is from mid-15c. (Chaucer uses at regard of).
ware (v.) Look up ware at Dictionary.com
"to take heed of, beware," Old English warian "to guard against, beware; protect, defend," from Proto-Germanic *waraz (cognates: Old Frisian waria, Old Norse vara), from PIE *war-o- "to guard, watch," from root *wer- (4) "to perceive, watch out for" (see ward (n.)).
neglect (v.) Look up neglect at Dictionary.com
1520s, from Latin neglectus, past participle of neglegere "to make light of, disregard, be indifferent to, not heed, not trouble oneself about," literally "not to pick up," variant of neclegere, from Old Latin nec "not" (see deny) + legere "pick up, select" (see lecture (n.)). Related: Neglected; neglecting.
catoblepas (n.) Look up catoblepas at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from Latin catoblepas, from Greek katobleps, from kato "downward" (related to kata-) + blepein "to look," but this might be ancient folk etymology. Name given by ancient authors to some African animal.
A wylde beest that hyghte Catoblefas and hath a lytyll body and nyce in all membres and a grete heed hangynge alway to-warde the erth. [John of Trevisa, translation of Bartholomew de Glanville's "De proprietatibus rerum," 1398]
attention (n.) Look up attention at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "giving heed," from Latin attentionem (nominative attentio) "attention, attentiveness," noun of action from past participle stem of attendere "mental heeding" (see attend). Used with a remarkable diversity of verbs (such as pay, gather, attract, draw, call). As a military cautionary word preparative to giving a command, it is attested from 1792. Attention span is from 1903 (earlier span of attention, 1892).
mind (v.) Look up mind at Dictionary.com
mid-14c., "to remember, take care to remember," also "to remind," from mind (n.). Meaning "perceive, notice" is from late 15c.; that of "to give heed to" is from 1550s; that of "be careful about" is from 1737. Sense of "object to, dislike" is from c.1600; negative use (with not) "to care for, to trouble oneself with" is attested from c.1600. Meaning "to take care of, look after" is from 1690s. Related: Minded; minding. Meiotic expression don't mind if I do attested from 1847.
achtung Look up achtung at Dictionary.com
German word used to command attention, from German achtung, from acht (n.) "attention, care, heed, consideration," achten (v.) "pay attention to, regard, esteem, respect," from Old High German ahton "pay attention to," a general Germanic word akin to Old English eahtian "to estimate, esteem, consider, praise," but with no living native descendants in English.
reckless (adj.) Look up reckless at Dictionary.com
Old English receleas "careless, thoughtless, heedless," earlier reccileas, from *rece, recce "care, heed," from reccan "to care" (see reck (v.)) + -less. The same affixed form is in German ruchlos, Dutch roekeloos "wicked." Root verb reck (Old English reccan) is passing into obscurity.
remark (v.) Look up remark at Dictionary.com
1630s, "to mark out, distinguish" modeled on French remarquer "to mark, note, heed," formed in Middle French from re-, intensive prefix (see re-), + marquer "to mark," probably from a Germanic source such as Old High German marchon "to delimit" (see mark (n.1)).

Meaning "take notice of" is from 1670s; that of "make a comment" is first attested 1690s, from notion of "make a verbal observation" or "call attention to specific points." Related: Remarked; remarking.
gawk (v.) Look up gawk at Dictionary.com
1785, American English, perhaps from gaw, a survival from Middle English gowen "to stare" (c.1200), from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse ga "to heed," from Proto-Germanic *gawon-, from PIE *ghow-e- "to honor, revere, worship" (see favor (n.)); and altered perhaps by gawk hand (see gawky). Liberman writes that it "need not have been derived from gowk. It is possibly another independent imitative formation with the structure g-k. Related: Gawked; gawking.
reward (v.) Look up reward at Dictionary.com
c.1300 "to grant, bestow;" early 14c. "to give as compensation," from Old North French rewarder "to regard, reward" (Old French regarder) "take notice of, regard, watch over," from re-, intensive prefix (see re-), + warder "look, heed, watch," from Germanic (see warder). Originally any form of requital. A doublet of regard. Related: Rewarded; rewarding.
attend (v.) Look up attend at Dictionary.com
c.1300, "to direct one's mind or energies," from Old French atendre (12c., Modern French attendre) "to expect, wait for, pay attention," and directly from Latin attendere "give heed to," literally "to stretch toward," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + tendere "stretch" (see tenet). The notion is of "stretching" one's mind toward something. Sense of "take care of, wait upon" is from early 14c. Meaning "to pay attention" is early 15c.; that of "to be in attendance" is mid-15c. Related: Attended; attending.
negligee (n.) Look up negligee at Dictionary.com
1756, "a kind of loose gown worn by women," from French négligée, noun use of fem. past participle of négligier "to neglect" (14c.), from Latin neglegere "to disregard, not heed, not trouble oneself about," also "to make light of" (see neglect (v.)). So called in comparison to the elaborate costume of a fully dressed woman of the period. Grose ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1788] reports it "vulgarly termed a neggledigee." Borrowed again, 1835; the modern sense "semi-transparent, flimsy, lacy dressing gown" is yet another revival, first recorded 1930. It also was used in the U.S. funeral industry mid-20c. for "shroud of a corpse."
observe (v.) Look up observe at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "to hold to" (a manner of life or course of conduct), from Old French observer, osserver "to observe, watch over, follow" (10c.), from Latin observare "watch over, note, heed, look to, attend to, guard, regard, comply with," from ob "over" (see ob-) + servare "to watch, keep safe," from PIE root *ser- (1) "to protect." Meaning "to attend to in practice, to keep, follow" is attested from late 14c. Sense of "watch, perceive, notice" is 1560s, via notion of "see and note omens." Meaning "to say by way of remark" is from c.1600. Related: Observed; observing.
garnish (v.) Look up garnish at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from Old French garniss-, present participle stem of garnir "provide, furnish; fortify, reinforce," from a Germanic stem related to Proto-Germanic *warnejan "be cautious, guard, provide for" (cognates: Old High German warnon "to take heed," Old English warnian "to take warning, beware;" see warn). Sense evolution is from "arm oneself" to "fit out" to "embellish," which was the earliest meaning in English, though the others also were used in Middle English. Culinary sense of "to decorate a dish for the table" predominated after c.1700. Older meaning survives in legal sense of "warning of attachment of funds" (1570s). Related: Garnished; garnishing.
lamia (n.) Look up lamia at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from Latin lamia, from Greek lamia "female vampire," literally "swallower, lecher," from laimos "throat, gullet." Probably cognate with Latin lemures "spirits of the dead" (see lemur). Used in early translations of the Bible for screech owls and sea monsters. Sometimes also, apparently, mermaids.
Also kynde erreþ in som beestes wondirliche j-schape, as it fareþ in a beest þat hatte lamia, þat haþ an heed as a mayde & body as a grym fissche[;] whan þat best lamya may fynde ony man, first a flatereþ wiþ hym with a wommannes face and makeþ hym ligge by here while he may dure, & whanne he may noferþere suffice to here lecherye þanne he rendeþ hym and sleþ and eteþ hym. [John of Trevisa, translation of Bartholomew de Glanville's "De proprietatibus rerum," 1398]
twit (v.) Look up twit at Dictionary.com
"to blame, reproach, taunt, upbraid," 1520s, twite, shortened form of Middle English atwite, from Old English ætwitan "to blame, reproach," from æt "at" + witan "to blame," from Proto-Germanic *witanan (cognates: Old English wite, Old Saxon witi, Old Norse viti "punishment, torture;" Old High German wizzi "punishment," wizan "to punish;" Dutch verwijten, Old High German firwizan, German verweisen "to reproach, reprove," Gothic fraweitan "to avenge"), from PIE root *weid- "to see" (see vision). For sense evolution, compare Latin animadvertere, literally "to give heed to, observe," later "to chastise, censure, punish." Related: Twitted; twitting. As a noun meaning "a taunt" from 1520s.
glass (n.) Look up glass at Dictionary.com
Old English glæs "glass, a glass vessel," from Proto-Germanic *glasam (cognates: Old Saxon glas, Middle Dutch and Dutch glas, German Glas, Old Norse gler "glass, looking glass," Danish glar), from PIE *ghel- (2) "to shine," with derivatives referring to bright materials and gold (cognates: Latin glaber "smooth, bald," Old Church Slavonic gladuku, Lithuanian glodus "smooth"), with derivatives referring to colors and bright materials, a word that is the root of widespread words for gray, blue, green, and yellow (such as Old English glær "amber," Latin glaesum "amber," Old Irish glass "green, blue, gray," Welsh glas "blue;" see glass). Sense of "drinking glass" is early 13c.

The glass slipper in "Cinderella" is perhaps an error by Charles Perrault, translating in 1697, mistaking Old French voir "ermine, fur" for verre "glass." In other versions of the tale it is a fur slipper. The proverb about people in glass houses throwing stones is attested by 1779, but earlier forms go back to 17c.:
Who hath glass-windows of his own must take heed how he throws stones at his house. ... He that hath a body made of glass must not throw stones at another. [John Ray, "Handbook of Proverbs," 1670]