Etymologically
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hardship

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 06:23. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈhɑːdˌʃɪp/[1]
  • US: /ˈhɑɹdˌʃɪp/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English hard + -ship;[2][3][4][5] the Middle English form was hardshipe,[5][6] written heardschipe in the Ancrene Wisse.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Harshness, severity; something hard to bear, a privation: about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle, where fasting, waking, cold and rough clothing are listed among the hardships that the flesh may endure.[2][6] Etymonline dates the word to about 1200, in the sense "quality of being hard", now obsolete.[3]

Semantic evolution

The abstract sense, "the quality of being hard to bear", lasted until the late 17th century,[4][2] and in Middle English the word could also mean obduracy or callousness.[6] The surviving count sense, a harsh or adverse circumstance, often in the plural, also goes back to the same early text, and the mass sense, hard circumstances in general, adversity or want, follows from about 1540.[2][4] Etymonline dates the meaning "disadvantage, suffering, privation" to about 1400.[3] Between 1649 and 1780 a hardship could also be a harsh act inflicted on someone,[2] and Johnson (1755) gave "injury; oppression" as its first sense, before "inconvenience; fatigue".[8] A rare verb, to make someone suffer hardship, is recorded from 1844.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1225 – harshness; a harsh or adverse circumstance, in the Ancrene Riwle.[2][6]
  • c. 1400 – disadvantage, suffering, privation.[3]
  • c. 1540 – hard circumstances, adversity, want.[2]
  • 1649 – an instance of harsh treatment (obsolete by 1780).[2]
  • 1844 – verb, to cause to suffer hardship.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Hard conditions of life that are difficult to bear; suffering or privation: The family lived through years of hardship after the drought.[9][5][2]
  2. A particular thing that causes suffering or difficulty: Long winters were one of the hardships of frontier life.[9][5][2]

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes it from its synonyms: hardship is a situation that calls for great and painful effort, privation refers especially to a lack of food, clothing and other necessities, and austerity adds deliberate control of one's reactions to them.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e 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)
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House