"H" Word Origins

howling

Origin

From howl + the suffix -ing.

howsoever

Origin

From Middle English howsoevere, how-so-evere, how so evere. By surface analysis, how + so + ever.

hoy

German

Borrowed from German Heu or Dutch gooi.

hoyden

Origin

Probably from Middle Dutch heyden (“heathen, gypsy”), heidin (Modern Dutch heiden).

Hoyle

Old English

From Old English halh ("hollow").

HS

English

An abbreviation of high school.

Hsiao

Origin

From the Wade-Giles romanization of Mandarin 蕭/萧 (Xiāo).

Hsu

Origin

Borrowed from Mandarin 許/许 (Xǔ) or 徐 (Xú), Wade-Giles romanization Hsü.

HTML

English

An initialism of hypertext markup language. It was devised by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN around 1990 as part of the original World Wide Web.

HTTP

English

An initialism of hypertext transfer protocol. It was devised by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN around 1990 alongside HTML and the first web browser.

HTTPS

English

An initialism of hypertext transfer protocol secure, formed from HTTP with the addition of S for secure.

Hu

Chinese

From Chinese 胡 (hú). Doublet of Wu. For less common variants, see Hu.

Hua

Origin

From Mandarin 花 (Huā) or 華/华 (Huà).

Huang

Origin

Borrowed from Mandarin 黃/黄 (Huáng). Doublet of Wong, Huynh, and Hoang.

hub

Germanic

Of uncertain origin, related to an old dialect word "hob"; possibly linked to a Germanic root meaning "bump" or "hill."

hubba

Arabic

Traced back through Hindustani and Persian to Arabic habba, meaning a single grain or seed — the same idea behind describing a tiny quantity as "not a grain's worth."

Hubble

Origin

An old dialect word of uncertain origin, likely related to "hobble" and other words describing something lumpy or disordered.

hubbub

Old Irish

Likely borrowed from an old Irish or Scottish Gaelic battle-cry or shout, which came to describe any loud, confused noise of a crowd.

hubby

Origin

A shortened, affectionate form of "husband."

Huber

German

Borrowed from German Huber.

Hubert

Old French

From Old French Hubert, ultimately from Proto-Germanic roots meaning "mind" and "bright, famous."

hubris

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek hubris, originally meaning "insolence" or an outrageous act of pride against the gods — famously the downfall of many tragic heroes.

huck

Origin

Unknown. Perhaps a variant of chuck or hoick.

huckleberry

Origin · 1660

Probably an American alteration of an older English word "hurtleberry," meaning whortleberry — first recorded in American English in the 1660s.

huckster

Origin

From Middle English hukster, probably of Low German or Dutch origin, from Middle Low German höken (“to peddle”) or Middle Dutch hokester, itself from hoeken (“to peddle, bend, bear on the back”), all from Proto-Germanic *huk-, probably related to *hūkan- (“to squat”), from *hūkkan-, back-formed from the iterative *huk(k)ōn-, from Proto-Indo-European *kuk-néh₂, from *kewk- (“to curve, bend”) (also the source of English high). Compare hawkster. By surface analysis, huck + -ster.

hud

Origin

Related to "hood," in the sense of something that covers or encloses.

huddle

Middle English

From Middle English, ultimately related to "hide" — the original sense was closer to crowding together in a hiding place.

huddled

Origin

From huddle + the suffix -ed.

Hudson

Origin

From Hudd + -son. Doublet of Hutson.

hue

Old English

From Old English hīew, meaning "appearance" or "color" — related to old Germanic and Indo-European words for the color or texture of skin.

huer

Origin

Built from the verb "hue" (to shout or raise a cry) plus the agent suffix "-er" — literally, "one who hues."

huerta

Spanish

Borrowed directly from Spanish huerta, meaning "orchard" or "vegetable garden."

huevos

Spanish

From Spanish huevos, the plural of huevo, meaning "egg."

Huey

Origin

From the pronunciation of the aircraft's military designation "HU-1," later restyled UH-1 — the nickname stuck even after the official code changed.

huff

German

Probably an altered form of an older word meaning "to breathe hard, pant," related to a similar German word for breathing heavily.

huffing

Origin

From huff + -ing.

huffy

Origin

From huff (a fit of pique or anger) plus the adjective ending -y.

hug

Old Norse

From an older English word meaning "to embrace," likely blending a word for crouching close with an Old Norse word meaning "to comfort" — ultimately tied to a root meaning "mind" or "thought."

huge

Old French

From Old French, likely from a word meaning "height," ultimately related to the same ancient root that gave English the word "high."

hugely

Origin

From huge plus the adverb-forming ending -ly.

hugger

Origin

From hug plus the agent suffix -er, meaning "one who does the action."

Huggins

Origin

From a medieval diminutive of the given name Hugh plus the patronymic suffix -s.

huggy

Origin

From hug plus the adjective ending -y.

Hugh

Old French

From the Old French name Hughe, brought to England by the Normans, from Proto-Germanic *hugiz ("heart, mind").

Hughie

Origin

From Hugh plus the diminutive suffix -ie.

Hugo

Old French

From Old French Hugo, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *hugi (“thought, mind, spirit”).

huh

Dutch · 1600

A natural exclamation recorded in English since around 1600; similar sounds exist in other languages, including Dutch.

hui

Origin

Borrowed directly from Māori hui, meaning "gathering" or "assembly."