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hart

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /hɑːt/ (UK); /hɑɹt/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is 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 PIE *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

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)