Etymologically
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harry

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈhær.i/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English herien,[2][3] inherited from Old English hergian (“to make war, lay waste, plunder”),[4][2][5] from Proto-Germanic *harjōną,[4] which is also the source of Old Frisian urheria “to lay waste”, Old Saxon and Old High German heriōn, German verheeren “to devastate” and Old Norse herja “to plunder”.[4][2] It means literally “to overrun with an army”, from Proto-Germanic *harjaz (“an armed force”),[4][2][5] the source of Old English here, German Heer and Gothic harjis “army”,[4][2] from Proto-Indo-European *koryo- (“war, war-band, army”),[4][2] the root also of Lithuanian kãrias “army” and Greek koíranos “ruler, commander”.[4][5] It was probably influenced by Old French harier, with the same sense.[5][6] It is related to harbour, herald and heriot.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make predatory raids: about 893 in the OED[7] and Barnhart,[2] the word used in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for what the Vikings did to England.[4]

Semantic evolution

To overrun a territory with an army is from about 1205,[7] and Christ's despoiling of hell after his death, the harrowing of hell, from about 1200.[7] To harass people with attacks or exactions is from before 1300,[7] or the 13th century in Hoad,[5] and the weakened sense “to worry, goad, harass” from about 1400.[4][7] In modern Scots it is the usual word for robbing birds' nests, from 1637–50.[7] The noun, the act of harrying, is from about 1330.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 893 – to raid.[7][2]
  • c. 1200 – the harrowing of hell.[7]
  • c. 1205 – to lay waste with an army.[7]
  • before 1300 – to harass people.[7]
  • c. 1330 – noun, harrying.[7]
  • c. 1400 – to worry, torment.[4][7]
  • 1637–50 – to rob birds' nests.[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To trouble with repeated attacks or demands; to harass.
  2. To raid or pillage, as in war.

Word family

  • harrier

Usage notes

Harry is also a familiar form of the name Henry;[4][7] Weekley took the large number of Harris and Harrison surnames as evidence that Harry was the Middle English pronunciation of Henry.[4] Old Harry is a name for the Devil, from 1777.[7] In Scots and Yorkshire dialect a harry was a harrow.[8]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)