"H" Word Origins

ha

Origin · 1300

An onomatopoeic word imitating the sound of laughter, attested since the early 1300s.

haa

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese はあ (hā).

Haas

German

From Middle Dutch and Middle High German hase, from Old High German hase ("hare").

hab

French

A clipped form of "habitation" (for the housing sense) and of "Habitants," an old nickname for French-Canadian settlers, later shortened to "Habs" for the Montreal Canadiens.

habeas

Latin

Shortened from the Latin legal phrase habeas corpus, literally "you shall have the body" (of the person before the court).

Haber

Origin

* As a Jewish and German surname, from the noun Haber (“oat”), more commonly spelled as Haver. * Also as a Jewish surname, from the German name (Habern) for Habry in the Czech Republic. This name is from Czech habr (“hornbeam”).

haberdasher

Origin

From Middle English, 13th century. Uncertain but may derive from Anglo-Norman habertas (“small goods”).

haberdashery

Middle English

From Middle English haberdasher, a dealer in small goods, probably via Anglo-Norman French; the ultimate source is uncertain.

Habib

Arabic

From Arabic habib, meaning "beloved" — widely used across the Middle East as a warm term of address.

habibi

Arabic

From Arabic "ḥabībī," my beloved, from "ḥabīb" (beloved). The form addressed to a woman is "habibti".

habibti

Arabic

From Arabic ḥabīb 'beloved', with the feminine ending and the first-person possessive suffix, giving 'my beloved (female)'.

habile

Origin

From Middle English habil, from Old French habile, from Latin habilis (“suitable; apt”), from habeō (“to handle”). Doublet of able.

habiliment

Origin

From Middle English habilement, from Old French habillement (“clothes”).

habilitate

Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin habilitātus, past participle of habilitāre (“to enable”).

habit

Latin

From Latin habitus ("condition, dress, bearing"), from habere ("to have or hold") — distantly related to "gift."

habitable

Latin

From Latin habitabilis, from habitare ("to dwell"), the root behind "inhabit" and "habitat."

habitat

Latin

From Latin habitat ("it dwells"), originally used by naturalists like Linnaeus in Latin descriptions such as "Habitat in Europa."

habitation

Latin

From Latin habitatio, from habitare ("to dwell").

habitual

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin habitualis, from Latin habitus ("condition, disposition"), the same root as "habit."

habituate

Origin

Inherited from Middle English habituat(e) (“physically established or present”), borrowed from Late Latin habituātus, perfect passive participle of habituō (“to bring into a condition or habit of body”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

habituation

Origin

From Middle English habituacioun, from Medieval Latin habituātio.

habituative

Origin

From habituate + -ive.

habitude

Origin

From Middle English habitude, from Middle French habitude, from Latin habitūdō (“condition, plight, habit, appearance”), from habeō (“to have, hold, keep”).

habitus

Origin

From Latin habitus (“habit”), from habeō (“have; maintain”). The plural habiti is a misconstruction, as the Latin plural is in fact habitūs. habiti may have been influenced by Latin habitī, the plural of the participle habitus; however, it is not the etymon of the English term.

hachure

Origin

From French hachure (“crosshatching”), from hacher (“to hatch”).

hacienda

Spanish

Borrowed directly from Spanish hacienda; related to the Portuguese word fazenda.

hack

Old English · 1950

From Old English haccian ("to hack, chop"), related to German hacken and Dutch hakken; the computing sense dates to the 1950s-60s, first meaning clever problem-solving before picking up its darker "break into a system" meaning by the 1960s.

hackamore

Origin

Perhaps from Spanish jáquima (“halter”).

hacker

Middle English

From Middle English hackere ("one who cuts wood"), from hacken ("to hack, chop") plus the agent suffix -er.

Hackett

Middle English

Several etymologies: * A variant of the Scottish surname Halkett. * English surname, from a pet form of the medieval personal name Hack. * From Middle English haket (“kind of fish”), hence perhaps a nickname for someone supposed to resemble such a fish, or a metonymic occupational surname for a fisherman or fish seller. * It could also be a reduced Anglicized form of Irish Mac Eachaidh, from which also the surnames Caughey and McGaffey.

hacking

Origin

From hack plus the suffix -ing.

hackish

Origin

From hack + -ish.

hackman

Origin

From hack ("a horse or carriage for hire") plus man.

Hackney

Origin

From the London borough of Hackney, once known for pastures where horses were kept for hire.

hackneyed

English

From hackney, a horse kept for hire, hence anything made stale and commonplace by constant use.

hacksaw

Origin · 1867

From hack plus saw; first recorded in English in 1867.

hacky

Origin

From hack plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

had

Middle English

From Middle English hadde (preterite), yhad (past participle), from Old English hæfde (first and third person singular preterite), ġehæfd (past participle), from Proto-Germanic *habdaz, past and past participle stem of *habjaną (“to have”), equivalent to have + -ed. Cognate with Dutch had, German hatte, Swedish hade, Icelandic hafði.

hadassah

Origin

Borrowed from Hebrew הֲדַסָּה (“myrtle”), the Hebrew name of Esther in the Hebrew Bible.

haddie

Origin

A Scots shortening of "haddock."

haddock

Old French

From Middle English haddok; ultimate origin uncertain, though possibly linked to Old French terms for preparing fish.

hadean

Origin

From Hades + -an, from Ancient Greek ᾍδης (Hāídēs). By surface analysis, had- + -e- + -an.

Hades

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Haides, both the name of the god and, by extension, his domain.

hadlee

Origin

Rare variant of Hadley.

hadleigh

Origin

Rare variant of Hadley.

Hadley

Old English

From Old English hǣþ ("heath") + leah ("woodland clearing").

Hadrian

Latin

From Latin Hadrianus, meaning "from Hadria," an Adriatic port town; a doublet of the name Adrian.

hadron

Greek · 1962

Coined in 1962 by physicist Lev Okun from Greek hadros ("thick, bulky") plus the particle-physics suffix -on.