headquarter

IPA/ˌhedˈkwɔː.tər/
KK[hˈɛdkwˌɔrtɚ]IPA/ˈhedˌkwɔːr.t̬ɚ/

headquarter — verb

  • headquarterpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • headquarters3rd person singular
  • headquartering-ing form
  • headquarteredpast simple

1. to establish the central office or command hub of a company, organization, or in

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB2
Definition

to establish the central office or command hub of a company, organization, or institution in a specific place, so that senior leaders and major decisions are based there — almost always used in the passive voice as be headquartered.

Example

The Andrés-Sirin Foundation is headquartered in Nairobi, with staff in twelve other countries.

passive: be headquartered + in + city

Aoi's small publishing company is headquartered in an old house with a bright red door.

Common collocations
  • be headquartered in [city/country/region]
  • be headquartered at [address/building]
  • be headquartered near [landmark]
Synonyms
  • base

    broader than headquarter — a company can base a single team or operation somewhere, not only its main office

  • station

    usually for military or official personnel, not for a whole organization

  • locate

    more general and neutral; does not carry the idea of central command

Grammar Patterns

be headquartered + in/at + [place]

Usage Note

Almost always found in the passive form be headquartered + in/at. The active form (e.g., The company headquarters its operations in Paris) is rare and sounds unnatural to most native speakers. Use the noun headquarters when referring to the building itself.

Common Mistakes

Our company headquarters in Tokyo.
Our company is headquartered in Tokyo.
headquarter is a verb and needs the passive form be + past participle; headquarters (with -s) is the noun meaning 'the main office building.'

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words describe putting a person, team, or organization somewhere, but headquarter is the only one that specifically means placing the central command of an entire organization. Base is more flexible — a company can base its sales team in Tokyo and its factory in Vietnam, but only the main office is headquartered somewhere. Station is used for assigned personnel, especially military or official posts, not for organizations. Locate and situate are neutral and general; they do not imply 'main headquarters.' For example: the charity is headquartered in Geneva, its field workers are stationed in refugee camps, and its fundraising team is based in London, while the regional offices are situated in smaller towns.

base ↗station ↗locate ↗situate ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • be headquartered
  • remain headquartered

Prepositions

Etymology

Old English (heafod) / Old French (quartier)Middle EnglishEnglish

Headquarter is a back-formation — a verb created by removing the noun ending from headquarters. The noun headquarters was first used in the 1600s for the military command centre of an army. It combines head (meaning 'chief' or 'main', from Old English heafod) and quarter (meaning 'a place to stay', from Old French quartier, which traces back to Latin quartarius, meaning 'a fourth part' or 'a district'). The verb form became common in American business English during the mid-1900s.