Meaning

noun paying particular notice (as to children or helpless people)

verb pay close attention to; give heed to

originFrom Middle English heden, from Old English hēdan (“to heed, take care, observe, attend, guard, take charge, take possession, receive”), from Proto-West Germanic *hōdijan (“to heed, guard”), from Proto-Indo-European *kadʰ- (“to heed, protect”). Cognate with West Frisian hoedje (“to heed”), Dutch hoeden (“to heed”), German hüten (“to heed”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0