headquarters

From head +‎ quarters.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌhɛdˈkwɔː.təz/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛdˌkwɔɹ.tɚz/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

headquarters (plural headquarters)

1. The military installation from which troops are commanded and orders are issued; the military unit consisting of a commander and his support staff.
2. The center of an organization's operations or administration.
   • 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion‎^[1]:

     As though on an incendiary rampage, the fires systematically devoured the contents of Edison's headquarters and facilities.

   • 2025 February 19, Jordan Valinsky, “KFC is leaving Kentucky”, in CNN Business‎^[2]:

     The chicken chain’s parent company, Yum Brands, announced Tuesday that KFC’s corporate headquarters is leaving Kentucky for Texas, joining sister brand Pizza Hut’s offices in the Dallas suburb of Plano.

3. A place of concentrated activity or influence.
   • [1888 [1887 March 1], “The Great Mahomedan Rebellion in Yunnan”, in The China Review‎^[3], volume XVI, →OCLC, page 85:

     The head-quarters of the rebellion in the East were at a little town called Hui-lung.]

• The word is plural in construction and can take singular or plural verbs.

• HQ, h.q.
• head office

• (US) headquarter

headquarters

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of headquarter