Etymologically
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hate

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /heɪt/[1]

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English haten, inherited from Old English hatian (“to regard with extreme ill will; to treat as an enemy”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *hatōną.[2][5] Its cognates include Old Frisian hatia, Old Saxon hatōn, Dutch haten, German hassen and Old Norse hata,[3][4][6] and Gothic has hatan.[2][4] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *kad- (“sorrow, hatred”), comparing Greek κῆδος (kêdos, “care, sorrow, mourning”) and Welsh cas (“pain, anger”).[2][7][8] The noun is Old English hete (“hatred, malice”), altered in Middle English to match the verb,[2][8] and the SOED and Hoad see influence from Old Norse hatr.[4][5] French haine and haïr are from Germanic.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To regard with extreme dislike: Old English hatian, before 899, in Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care,[3] or about 897.[9] The noun, about 825.[9]

Semantic evolution

“To dislike greatly, be averse to doing something”, as in I hate to say it, is from 1297.[9] An object of hatred, a pet hate, is from 1592 in poetry.[9][10] In the First World War a bombardment was jocularly a hate, from 1914,[9] and attributive uses for things designed to stir up hatred, as in hate campaign, are from 1916.[9] Hate mail is first attested in 1951, hate crime by 1988 and hate speech in its modern use by 1990.[2] Etymonline notes that hate-speech appears earlier in an 1898 translation of the Old English poem on the fall of the angels, rendering Old English hetespræce.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 825 – noun, hatred.[9]
  • before 899 – verb (Alfred).[3]
  • 1297 – to dislike doing.[9]
  • 1592 – an object of hatred.[9]
  • 1914 – a bombardment.[9]
  • 1951 – hate mail.[2]
  • 1988 – hate crime.[2]
  • 1990 – hate speech.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To feel intense hostility or animosity towards; to detest.
  2. To dislike greatly; to be reluctant: I hate to interrupt.

Noun

  1. Intense dislike; hatred.
  2. An object of hatred: a pet hate.

Word family

  • hater
  • hatable
  • hatemonger
  • self-hate
  • hate crime
  • hate mail
  • hate speech
  • hatred
  • heinous
  • hateful

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 j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)