Plain English Meaning

Wind blowing into the nose of the airplane. It pushes back against your forward progress, so you cover less ground for each foot of altitude you lose.

Full Definition

A wind blowing from in front of the aircraft, opposite to its direction of travel. A headwind reduces groundspeed without changing airspeed, and during a glide it shortens the distance the airplane will travel over the ground for a given altitude lost.

Context Anchor

Used when judging glide distance, choosing a landing area, and deciding whether the airplane can reach a selected touchdown point.

Derivation

From 'head' (the front of the aircraft) plus 'wind.' Literally, the wind hitting you head-on. The plain-language origin matches the aviation meaning exactly.