"H" Word Origins

harm

Old English

From Old English hearm, meaning harm, shame, or pain, tracing back to a shared Germanic root.

Harman

Germanic

As slang for a policeman, from older English underworld cant; as a surname, from a Germanic root meaning roughly "army man," closely related to Herman/Hermann.

harmful

Old English

From Old English, built from harm + the suffix -ful.

harmless

Old English

From Old English hearmlēas, built from harm plus the suffix -less ("without"). The German cousin harmlos means the same thing.

Harmon

Norman

* As an English surname, by way of Norman/Anglo-Norman/Middle English/Old French from Proto-West Germanic *hari (“army”) + *mann (“man”), similar to Herman. Also Americanized from German variants such as Harmann, Hermann. Compare Harman. * As an Irish surname, variant of Hargadon, from Ó hArgadáin (literally “descendant of Argadán”), from a diminutive of airgead (“silver”).

harmonic

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek harmonikos ("skilled in music"), from harmonia, "harmony."

harmonica

Origin

Named by Benjamin Franklin, who coined "harmonica" for his glass instrument (played by rubbing wet fingers on glass bowls) decades before the small blown instrument borrowed the same name.

harmonious

Middle French

From Middle French harmonieux, built on harmony plus -ous.

harmonium

Latin · 1840

Coined in French by instrument maker Alexandre Debain in 1840, from harmony plus the Latin-style ending -ium.

harmonize

French

From French harmoniser, built on harmony plus the verb-forming suffix -ize.

harmony

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek harmonia ("joint, agreement, concord of sounds"), related to harmozo, "to fit together." Entered English through Old French and Latin.

harness

Old French

From Old French hernois, "equipment used in battle," ultimately traced back to Old Norse roots meaning "army" and "provisions."

Harold

Origin · 1980

Named, somewhat as an in-joke, after the given name Harold by improv pioneer Del Close, who developed the format at Chicago's iO Theater in the 1980s.

haroun

Origin

From Somali xarunta.

harp

Old English

From Old English hearpe, going back to a shared Germanic root — the same word appears as Harfe in German and harpa in Swedish.

harper

Old English

From Old English hearpere, literally "one who harps," from harp plus the "-er" agent suffix.

harpoon

Ancient Greek

From Old French harpon, ultimately from Ancient Greek harpage, "hook," related to harpazo, "to snatch or seize."

Harps

Origin

Patronymic form of Harp.

harpsichord

New Latin

From French harpechord, "harp string," via New Latin harpichordium, combining harpa ("harp") and chorda ("string").

harpy

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek harpuia, "snatcher," from harpazo, "to seize" — the same root behind "rapacious."

harridan

Origin

Perhaps a modification of French haridelle (“old horse, nag”).

Harriet

French

Anglicized from French Henriette, feminine form of Henri ("Henry").

Harrigan

Irish

From Irish Ó hArragáin, from a diminutive of ánradh ("warrior").

Harriman

Origin

From the given name Herman.

Harris

Old French

From Harry + -s (“patronymic suffix”). From Harry, a male given name derived from a Middle English pronunciation of Old French Henri.

Harrisburg

Origin

From Harris + -burg; the Pennsylvania capital was named for John Harris Sr.

Harrison

Origin

From Harry + -son.

harrow

Old English

From Old English hearwa or Old Norse-related forms; the verb sense of "torment" grew out of an older link with harry, "to harass."

harrowing

Origin

Formed from harrow plus -ing, from the older sense of harrow meaning "to torment."

harry

Old English

From Old English herġian, "to ravage or raid," ultimately from a Germanic word for "army."

harsh

Middle English

From Middle English harsk, likely borrowed from Old Norse or Middle Low German words meaning "rough" or literally "hairy."

harshly

Origin

From harsh plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

harshness

Origin

From harsh plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

hart

Old English

From Old English heorot, "stag," related to a much older Indo-European word for "horn" — the same root that gives us the English word "horn."

hartebeest

Origin

From early Afrikaans hartebeest (now hartebees), from Dutch hert (“deer, hart”) + Dutch beest (“beast”).

Hartford

Old English

From Old English heorot ("hart, stag") + ford.

hartley

Origin · 1888

Named after electronics researcher Ralph Hartley (1888-1970), who studied the measurement of information.

Hartman

Dutch

Borrowed from Dutch Hartman.

Hartmann

German

Borrowed from German Hartmann.

Haruko

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese はるこ (Haruko).

harumph

Origin

Onomatopoeic.

Harun

Arabic

From Arabic هَارُون (hārūn). Doublet of Aaron.

Harvard

Origin · 1638

Named after John Harvard, an English clergyman whose bequest helped found the college in 1638.

harvest

Old English

From Old English hærfest, meaning "autumn" or "harvest-time" — the word originally named the season itself before it came to mean the act of reaping.

harvester

Origin

Simply harvest plus the agent suffix "-er" — someone or something that does the harvesting.

Harvey

Irish

From Haerviu, name of a Breton saint, from Old Breton hoiarn (“iron”) + viu (“blazing”). Cognate with modern Breton Haerviu. In Ireland, used as an anglicisation of Irish Ó hAirmheadhaigh and Ó hEarchaidh. The civil parish in New Brunswick is probably named in honour of British colonial administrator John Harvey (1778 - 1852).

Harwood

Old English

From Old English hara (“hare”) or hār (“hoar, grey”) + wudu (“wood”).

Hasan

Arabic

From Arabic حَسَن (ḥasan, “fine, good, good-looking, handsome, manly; strong”).