Jer'kin·head` noun (Architecture) The hipped part of a roof which is hipped only for a part of its height, leaving a truncated gable. Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/J/8
In architecture a jerkinhead or jerkin-head is the end of a roof when it is formed into a shape intermediate between a gable and a hip, the gable rising about halfway to the ridge, so as to have a truncated shape, and the roof being hipped or inclined backward from this level. Found on http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/browse/TJ.HTM