hart

Pronunciation

• IPA: /hɑːt/ (UK); /hɑɹt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English hert, inherited from Old English heorot (“hart, stag, male of the red deer”), heort,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *herutaz, probably literally a horned beast,^[3][2][4] source also of Dutch hert, German Hirsch and Old Norse hjǫrtr,^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *keru-, an extended form of *ker-, horn, head (see horn),^[3][4][5] as in Latin cervus, stag, and Welsh carw.^[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The male of the deer, especially of the red deer: about 725, in Beowulf in Barnhart; about 825 in the OED.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The spelling hart is from 1410.^[2] In later use a hart was a male deer after its fifth year, when the crown antler has appeared.^[3][8][6] A hart of grease was a fat hart, and a hart of ten one with ten points, from about 1380.^[7] For the change of vowel, compare marsh.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 725 – heorot, a stag.^[2]
• c. 1380 – hart of ten.^[7]
• 1410 – the spelling hart.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A male deer, especially a male red deer over five years old; a stag.

Word family

• hartshorn

Related words

• hind
• stag
• horn
• cervine

Usage notes

In northern English dialect, hart-berries were bilberries.^[9][7]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ 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)