-hood, [OE. hod, had, hed, hede, etc., person, rank, order, condition, AS. hād; akin to OS. hēd, OHG. heit, G. -heit, D. -heid, Goth. haidus manner; cf. Skr. kētu brightness, cit to appear, be noticeable, notice. -head.].
A termination denoting state, condition, quality, character, totality, as in manhood, childhood, knighthood, brotherhood. Sometimes it is written, chiefly in obsolete words, in the form -head. [1913 Webster]