harvest

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhɑː(ɹ)vɪst/, /ˈhɑː(ɹ)vəst/ (UK); /ˈhɑɹ.vəst/, /ˈhɑɹ.vɪst/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English hervest, inherited from Old English hærfest (“autumn”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *harbistaz,^[4][3] source also of Dutch herfst and German Herbst (“autumn”) and Old Norse haust,^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *kerp-, to gather, pluck, harvest,^[3][2] also seen in Latin carpere, to pluck, and Greek καρπός (karpós, “fruit”).^[2][4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Autumn, as one of the four seasons: about 750 in Barnhart, 902 in the OED.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle English it was primarily a season name, with only an implied reference to gathering crops.^[3] The time of gathering crops is by the mid-13th century,^[3] and the act of gathering and the crop itself after about 1300.^[3] After about 1500 these were the main senses, and the borrowed autumn and fall supplied the season name.^[3][5] Trench remarked that English has a Latin name for the fourth quarter of the year because hærfest went to the ingathering of the fruits, while German Herbst kept the season.^[8] Figurative use is from the 1530s.^[3][7] The verb is from about 1400,^[3][2] of wild animals and of cells from 1946.^[3] Harvest home is from the 1570s and harvest moon from 1704.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 750 – autumn.^[2]
• mid-13th century – time of reaping.^[3]
• c. 1300 – reaping; the crop.^[3]
• c. 1400 – to harvest (verb).^[3]
• 1530s – figurative use.^[3]
• 1704 – harvest moon.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The gathering in of a ripened crop.
2. The crop gathered, or the yield of a season.
3. The time or season of gathering crops.
4. The result or consequence of an activity.

Verb

1. To gather a crop, or gather a crop from a field.
2. To receive the benefits or consequences of an action.
3. To remove an organ or cells for transplant or use.

Word family

• harvestable
• harvestability
• harvester
• harvestless
• harvestfish
• harvestman
• postharvest
• preharvest

Related words

• autumn
• fall
• carpet
• excerpt

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 g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker