Clearheaded is a compound of clear (from Latin clarus, via Old French) + headed (from Old English heafod, 'head'). The historical trail runs through clarus in Latin and heafod in Old English. Morphologically, clearheaded is transparent: it is a compound of clear (from Latin clarus, via Old French) + headed (from Old English heafod, 'head'). Used as an adjective, clearheaded now means "thinking sensibly and without confusion", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as clearheadedness and related forms such as clear and head. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.