Etymologically
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hat

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English hat, inherited from Old English hætt (“hat, head covering”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *hattuz (“hood, cowl”),[2][3][4] also the source of Frisian hat and Old Norse hǫttr “hood, cowl”.[2][3] Barnhart derives it from Proto-Indo-European *kadh- and relates it to hood,[3][4][5] but Etymonline calls its origin uncertain and notes comparisons with Lithuanian kuodas “bird's crest” and Latin cassis “helmet”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A covering for the head, as worn by men: about 725 in the OED, before 800 in Barnhart.[6][3] In Old English it glossed Latin pileus, galerus, mitra and tiara.[2]

Semantic evolution

A hat worn by women is from about 1470.[6] A head-dress showing rank, especially a cardinal's red hat, is from before 1352,[6] and it later stood for an office or role, as in wear two hats.[7][8] The verb, to put a hat on, is from about 1430.[6][9] Hatter is recorded in 1212, as a surname.[3] Eat one's hat is from 1770, and was said to have been originally to eat Old Rowley's (Charles II's) hat.[2][10] Throw one's hat in the ring was a prize-fighting challenge from 1847, and in politics an announcement of candidacy by 1917.[2] The cricket hat trick, three wickets with three successive balls, seems to come from the custom of giving the bowler a new hat.[11][10]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – a head covering.[6]
  • 1212 – hatter.[3]
  • a. 1352 – a hat of rank, such as a cardinal's.[6]
  • c. 1430 – verb, to put a hat on.[6]
  • c. 1470 – a woman's hat.[6]
  • 1770 – eat one's hat.[2]
  • 1847 – throw one's hat in the ring.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A shaped covering for the head, usually with a crown and brim.
  2. A role or job, especially one of several: wearing her teacher's hat.

Verb

  1. To supply with or cover with a hat.

Word family

  • hatless
  • hatlessness
  • hatlike
  • hood
  • heed
  • hatter
  • hat trick

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 i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  11. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul