abhor

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English abhorren,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin abhorreō (“to shrink back from, shudder at”),^[5][2][6] formed from ab- (“away from”) and horreō (“to bristle, shudder”),^[5][3][7] which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *ghers- (“to start out, stand out, bristle”).^[8] The Shorter Oxford takes it partly from French abhorrer as well,^[9] and the OED compares that verb, recorded from 1488, along with Occitan aborrir, Spanish aburrir and Italian aborrire.^[5] According to Ayto, the transitive sense "loathe" probably came from French in the 15th century.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

To shrink from with horror or repugnance: about 1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's surgery, of the idroforbicus, who shrinks from water.^[5][2] Barnhart dates the verb to probably before 1425,^[6] and Etymonline to about 1400.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The Latin verb was milder than the English one: besides shrinking back, it could mean to be at variance with or different from something.^[8][5] English took over the physical recoil first, and by about 1449, in Pecock, it had the sense of regarding with disgust or hatred, which is now the only common one and is often used hyperbolically.^[5][2] Ayto notes that this transitive use has completely replaced the older "be repelled".^[10] Several other uses came and went: to differ or depart from something, from Elyot in 1531 to 1698;^[5][9] in Scots, to shudder with horror, from 1488 to 1600;^[5] and to horrify or disgust, as in Shakespeare's "It does abhor me" in Othello.^[5][9] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to hate with acrimony; to detest to extremity; to loath".^[11] In English history, the abhorrers were those who petitioned Charles II to express their abhorrence of Whig and Nonconformist views.^[12][9]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – to shrink with horror from, to recoil from (obsolete by 1895).^[5][2]
• c. 1449 – to regard with disgust or hatred.^[5][2]
• 1488 – Scottish, to shudder with horror (obsolete by 1600).^[5]
• 1531 – to differ or depart from (obsolete by 1698); to horrify or disgust.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To regard with disgust and hatred; to detest or loathe: She abhors cruelty to animals.^[13][3][5]
2. (obsolete) To shrink from with horror; to recoil from.^[5][9][2]
3. (obsolete) To fill with horror or disgust.^[9][8]
4. (obsolete, 1531–1698) To differ entirely or depart from.^[5][9]

Word family

• abhorrer

Related words

• abhorrence
• abhorrent
• horror
• horrid

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins