"H" Word Origins

hajj

Arabic

From Arabic hajj, meaning "pilgrimage," from a verb meaning "to set out" or "to journey toward."

hajji

Arabic

From Ottoman Turkish hacı, from Persian hājī, ultimately from Arabic hājj, "one who has made the pilgrimage."

Hak

Chinese

* As a Dutch surname, variant of Haack. * As a Czech surname Hák, from the noun hák (“hook”). * As a Cambodian surname, from Khmer ហាក់ (hak), itself of Chinese origin and from 和 (“peace”), compare He. * As an Islamic name mainly in India, borrowed from Bengali হক (hok). Compare Haq. * Also as a Chinese surname, from 郝 (hǎo), see Hao.

hake

Origin

From Middle English *hake, from Old English hæca, haca (“hook, bolt, door-fastening, bar”), from Proto-West Germanic *hakō, from Proto-Germanic *hakô (“hook”), from Proto-Indo-European *keg-, *keng- (“peg, hook”). Related to hook. Cognates Cognate with Dutch haak (“hook”), German Haken (“hook”), Danish hage (“hook”), Swedish hake (“hook”), Icelandic haki (“hook”), Hittite [Term?] (/⁠kagas⁠/, “tooth”), Middle Irish chaing (“weapons rack”), Lithuanian kéngė (“hook, latch”), Russian ко́готь (kógotʹ, “claw”).

Hakeem

Origin

An alternative spelling of Hakim.

hakim

Arabic

From Arabic hakim, "wise" or "learned," passed into Persian and Hindustani.

hakuna matata

Swahili

From Swahili hakuna 'there is not' and matata 'troubles, problems'.

hal

Origin

Arabic حَال (ḥāl, literally “state, condition”)

halal

Arabic

From Arabic halal, meaning "permissible" or "lawful."

hale

Old English

From Old English hal, meaning "whole" or "healthy" — the same ancient root that gave us the word "whole."

Halen

Dutch

From Dutch Halen.

haleness

Origin

From hale + -ness.

Hales

Old English

From Old English halh ("hollow, nook").

Haley

Old English

Variant of Hayley, from Old English. Literally, “hay field”

half

Old English

From Old English healf, meaning "half" or "side," from an ancient Germanic root found across languages such as German (halb) and Swedish (halv).

halfhearted

Origin

From half + hearted.

halfling

Origin

From half + -ling. Sense 3 ("half-grown young person") is attested to 1794. It was then used by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings (1954) as an alternative reference to members of his hobbit race. Hobbits were used in the original 1974 releases of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, but in later editions they were changed to "halflings" for legal reasons, as being a pre-existing word rather than one invented by Tolkien.

Halford

Old English

From Old English healh ("nook") + ford.

halfway

Old English

From Old English healfweġ, joining half and way — literally "half of the way."

halfwit

Origin · 1600

From half + wit, first recorded in the early 1600s — someone with only "half" of the mental sharpness expected.

halibut

Middle English

From Middle English, combining "holy" and an old word for flatfish — because it was traditionally eaten on holy days.

Halifax

Old English

Traditionally linked to Old English for "holy hair," from a local legend about a martyred woman's hair hung in a tree — though the more likely source is an Old English phrase meaning "grassy corner." The Canadian city was named after an English earl.

haligonian

Origin

Likely from a false folk etymology deriving Halifax from Old English hāliġ feax ("holy hair"), although it probably actually came from halh + ġefeaxe ("grassy corner"). To this root halig- was added the -onian suffix, probably with analogy to other British demonyms following a similar pattern such as Oxonian, Cantabrigian, Mancunian, Glaswegian, etc. The original demonym was Halifaxian from the Nova Scotian city's founding in 1749 until the early 19th century (around the third generation of residents), when Haligonian became preferred. The reason for the change may be in part due to a negative association with the original demonym.

haline

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἅλς (háls).

halite

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἅλς (háls, “salt”), + -ite.

halitosis

Latin · 1874

Coined in 1874 from Latin halitus ("breath") plus the Greek-derived medical suffix denoting a condition or disease.

hall

Old English

From Old English heall, an ancient word for a large room or dwelling, related to German Halle and Dutch hal.

Halle

Origin

* As a German surname, variant of Hall. * As a French surname, from the noun halle (“covered room”). * As a Belgian and Dutch surname, from Halle, Belgium. * As a Jewish surname, from Halle in Saxony, named after the river Saale.

hallelujah

Hebrew

A learned borrowing from Biblical Hebrew halləluyah, meaning "praise the Lord."

Haller

Origin

* As an English and German surname, from hall + -er. * As a Alemannic German surname, variant of Halter, a noun meaning "shepherd, owner, holder." * Also as a German surname, variant of Heller. * As a Austrian German surname, from several placenames involving the element Hall meaning "salt," such as Halle in Saxony.

Halley

Irish

Two main origins: * Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó hAilche (“descendant of Ailche”), a personal name of unclear origin. * Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó hÁille (“descendant of Áille”), a byname from áille (“beauty”).

Halliwell

Old English

From Old English hāliġ ("holy") + wielle ("well, spring").

hallmark

Origin

From "hall" + "mark," originally the official stamp applied at Goldsmiths' Hall in London to certify precious metals.

hallo

Middle English

From Middle English halou/halloo, a shout used to call attention.

halloo

Origin

From Middle English hallow (“pursue, urge on”), from Old French haloer, which is imitative.

Halloran

Irish

An anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó hAllmhuráin, from a personal name meaning roughly "foreigner."

hallow

Old English

From Old English hālgian, "to make holy," related to hālga, "a holy one, a saint."

hallowdom

Origin

From hallow + -dom.

hallowed

Origin

The past-participle form of hallow, "to make holy."

Halloween

Origin

A shortened Scots form of "All Hallows' Even," the evening before All Saints' Day.

halls

Origin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

hallucinate

Latin

From Latin hallucinatus, related to a verb meaning "to wander in the mind" or "to dream."

hallucination

Latin

From the verb hallucinate, ultimately from Latin hallucinatus.

hallucinaut

Origin

Derived from the verb to hallucinate with suffix -naut (voyager, traveller).

hallucinogenic

Origin

Built from hallucinogen (itself from hallucination) plus the adjective suffix -ic.

hallway

Origin

A straightforward compound of hall + way.

halo

Origin

Clipping of Halotestin.

haloperidol

Origin

From halo- + (pi)perid(ine) + -ol. By surface analysis, halo- + -peridol.