<P> A widow's peak is a distinct point in the hairline in the center of the forehead; it is a dominant inherited trait . There are varying degrees of the peak . People who do not have a widow's peak have a hairline that runs straight across . </P> <P> The term stems from the belief that hair growing to a point on the forehead--suggestive of the peak of a widow's hood--is an omen of early widowhood . The use of peak in relation to hair dates from 1833 . The expression widow's peak dates from 1849 . The use of peak may refer to the beak or bill of a headdress, particularly the distinctive hood with a pointed piece in front--a biquoquet--which widows wore as a hood of mourning dating from 1530 . Another explanation for the origin of the phrase suggests that it may be related to the mourning caps worn as early as the 16th century . A mourning cap or' Mary Stuart Cap' is a cap which features a very distinctive triangular fold of cloth in the middle of the forehead, creating an artificial widow's peak . The use of peak referring to a point in the cloth covering the forehead dates to at least 1509 when it appears in Alexander Barclay's The Shyp of Folys: </P> <P> And ye Jentyl wymen whome this lewde vice doth blynde Lased on the backe: your peakes set a loft . </P> <P> Ely Guv Hintonith and M. Michael Cohen hypothesized the widow's peak hairline to be an anomaly that results from a lower - than - usual point of intersection of the bilateral periorbital fields of hair - growth suppression on the forehead . This can occur because the periorbital fields of hair - growth suppression are smaller than usual, or because they are more widely spaced . Wide spacing also explains the association between ocular hypertelorism--that is, the eyes being abnormally far apart--and widow's peak; this was suggested by findings in an unusual case of ocular hypertelorism in which surrounding scalp - hair growth was suppressed by an ectopic (displaced) eye . Widow's peaks are a symptom of Donnai - Barrow syndrome, a rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in the LRP2 gene . Other genetic syndromes occasionally associated with widow's peaks include Waardenburg syndrome and Aarskog syndrome . </P>

Widow's peak a pointed hairline on the forehead