Etymologically
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hangover

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 10:20. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈhæŋəʊ̯vəː/, /ˈhæŋɵ̞ʊ̯vəː/[1]
  • US: /ˈhæŋoʊ̯vɚ/, /ˈhæŋɔʊ̯vɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English hang + over, as a noun use of the verb phrase.[2][3][4][5][6] Dictionary.com marks it as an Americanism.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Something or someone left over; a remainder or survival: 1890, in a newspaper of St Joseph, Missouri;[2] Merriam-Webster and Etymonline give 1894.[4][6]

Semantic evolution

The sense of the unpleasant after-effects of drinking too much is recorded from 1895, in a Wisconsin newspaper,[2] and Etymonline, which dates it by 1902 in American English, explains it as something left over from the night before.[6] The OED notes that later uses of the general sense "a survival" are coloured by the drinking sense,[2] and the word was extended to the after-effects of drugs and to a letdown after excitement.[4][7]

Timeline

  • 1890 – a remainder or survival, something left over.[2]
  • 1895 – the after-effects of drinking too much.[2]
  • 1902 – the drinking sense in American English (Etymonline).[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The headache, nausea and other unpleasant effects that follow drinking too much alcohol: He woke with a dreadful hangover.[4][8][7]
  2. Similar after-effects of taking drugs.[4][7]
  3. A letdown after a time of great excitement or excess.[4][7]
  4. A custom, trait or thing that survives from the past; a holdover: The rule is a hangover from wartime.[4][8][7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins