"H" Word Origins

hodl

English

From a misspelling of holding in a 2013 post on the Bitcointalk forum titled I AM HODLING, which was picked up and reused as a term in its own right; it is often backronymed as hold on for dear life, but that reading came afterwards.

hoe

Old French

From Old French houe, ultimately from a Frankish word meaning "to hew".

hoedown

Origin · 1800

An Americanism from the mid-1800s, likely referring to farm workers putting down their hoes once the workday was over to socialize and dance.

hoejabi

Origin

Blend of hoe + hijabi. Attested online since at least 2011.

Hofer

German

Borrowed from German Hofer.

Hoff

Origin

A clipping of Hasselhoff.

Hoffman

German

Anglicized from German Hoffmann, an occupational surname for the manager of a farm or estate.

hog

Old English

From Old English hogg, of uncertain origin — possibly linked to a Germanic root meaning "to cut" (an old hog was originally a castrated pig), or possibly borrowed from an early Celtic word for pig.

hogan

Origin

Borrowed from the Navajo word hooghan, meaning "dwelling" or "house."

Hogarth

Dutch

Of Dutch origin, hoog (“high”) + aard (“nature or character”).

hogback

Origin

From hog + back.

hogg

Origin

Related to "hogget," an old farming term for a yearling sheep; ultimately connects to "hog," though the sheep sense has nothing to do with pigs.

hogget

Origin

From Middle English hogget, from Anglo-Norman hoget and an Anglo-Latin hogettus.

hogshead

Origin

From Late Middle English hogshead, hagyshed, hogeyshed, hoggesyde, hokkeshed, Middle English hoggeshed, hogges-hed, hogeshed, hoggeshede, hoggesheed, hoggesheudes, hoggesheved, hoggishede, hoggisheed, hoggyssehed, hogyshed, hoogeshed (“measure of liquid capacity equivalent to about 63 gallons; large barrel or cask”, literally “hog’s head”), from hog, hogge (“swine, especially a castrated male swine”) + hed (“animal or human head”), equivalent to hog + -s- + head. The connection between the cask and the head of a hog is uncertain, but may refer to the shape of the cask. The word has often been borrowed into other languages as “ox-head”.

Hogwarts

Origin · 1997

Invented by J. K. Rowling for her 1997 novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. She has suggested the name may have been influenced, consciously or not, by a plant called "hogwort" she once saw at Kew Gardens; within the story itself, fans often read it as a playful blend of "hog" and "warts."

hogwash

Middle English

From Middle English hoggewasch, literally "hog's wash" — kitchen slop fed to pigs. The "nonsense" meaning grew naturally from the idea of worthless swill.

Hoh

Origin

* As a German surname, spelling variant of Höh, from Middle High German hoch (“high”); compare Hoch. * As a Chinese surname, from romanizations of various surnames: ** 何 and 賀 /贺 (hè) (see He) ** 霍 (huò) (see Huo) ** 郝 (hǎo) (see Hao) ** 侯 (see Hou) ** Possibly also a variant of 胡 (hú) (see Hu), according to the 2003 edition of the Dictionary of American Family Names.

hoist

German

An alteration of the older word "hoise," itself from Middle Dutch hisen ("to hoist") — related to modern Dutch hijsen and German hissen.

Hojo

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 北条 (Hōjō).

hoke

Origin

A back-formation from "hokum," meaning phony or exaggerated material.

hokey

Origin

From the verb "hoke" (to fake something up for effect), itself from "hokum."

hokiness

Origin

From hoky + -ness.

Hokkaido

Japanese

From Japanese Hokkaidō, literally "North Sea Circuit," combining words for "north," "sea," and an old term for a province-like administrative region.

hokku

Origin

From Japanese 発句 (hokku).

hokum

Origin

Uncertain; first attested as US theater slang, possibly a blend of hocus-pocus + bunkum.

hola

Spanish

Borrowed directly from Spanish hola, meaning "hello."

hola, cómo estás

Spanish

Spanish, literally 'hello, how are you'; estás is the informal second-person form of estar, to be.

Holbrook

Old English

From Old English hol ("hollow") plus brōc ("stream, brook").

hold

Old English

From Old English healdan, meaning "to tend, herd, or keep," ultimately from a very old root meaning "to drive" — related to the word "halt."

holdall

Origin

Univerbation of hold + all.

Holden

Middle English

From Middle English holden, from Old English healden, from Proto-West Germanic *haldan. By surface analysis, hold + -en.

holder

Origin

From "hold" plus the agent suffix "-er," meaning "one who holds."

holding

Russian

From hold + -ing. The sense "holding company" is from Russian холдинг (xolding), a pseudo-anglicism derived from an ellipsis of holding company.

holdman

Origin

Various origins: * Occupational surname for a servant, from Middle English hold (“loyal, faithful”) + man (“man”). * Variant of the English surname Oldman. * Variant of German Holdmann.

holdoff

Origin

Deverbal from hold off.

holdover

Origin

Deverbal from hold over.

hole

Old English

From Old English hol, meaning "hollow place or cavity," from a very old Germanic root related to the word "hollow."

Holi

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Hindi holī, ultimately from Sanskrit.

holiday

Old English

From Old English hāligdæg, literally "holy day," originally referring to a religious feast day before broadening to any day of rest or celebration.

holidaymaker

Origin

From holiday + maker.

holier-than-thou

English

From a phrase in the Book of Isaiah, in which a speaker tells another 'I am holier than thou'; thou is the archaic singular you.

holiness

Old English

From Old English hāliġnes, built from "holy" plus the suffix "-ness."

holistic

Origin

Formed from "hol-" (whole) plus the adjective suffix "-istic," related to "holism."

Holl

Origin

* As a German and Dutch surname, from the noun hohl (“hollow hole”). * Also as a German surname, variant of Hold, from the obsolete noun Middle High German holde (“friend, servant vassal”); also Helle. * As an English surname, variant of Hole. * Also as a Dutch surname, variant of Holle.

holla

Origin

A variant spelling of "holler," itself from "hollo," an old shout used to attract attention.

Holland

Dutch

From Old Dutch holt lant, meaning "wood land." A popular but incorrect folk theory instead links it to "hollow land," referring to the country's famously low-lying terrain.

hollandaise

French

Borrowed from French sauce hollandaise, literally "Dutch sauce."

Hollander

Middle English

From Middle English holander, Hollander, from Holland plus -er.