haul

Pronunciation

• IPA: /hɔːl/ (UK); /hɔl/, /hɑl/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English haulen, a variant spelling of halen (“to drag, pull”) (see hale),^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French haler, of Germanic origin, akin to Middle Dutch halen (“to pull”).^[5] The au spelling reflects a Middle English change of pronunciation that parted from halen before the 1500s, as in crawl and small.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To pull or drag, to transport: about 1300 (haulen) in Barnhart;^[2] the OED's first quotation is from 1581, and Etymonline has hall in the 1580s, with the au or aw spelling from the early 17th century.^[6][3] The New Oxford's first sense is nautical, to trim the sails to sail nearer the wind, from the mid-16th century (1557 in the OED).^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

Transporting by cart or other vehicle is from 1741,^[6] and to call to account, haul over the coals, from 1795.^[6] The noun, an act of hauling, is from 1670 (the 1660s),^[2][3] and a quantity gathered or gained, as of fish in one draw of a net, from 1776, in John Adams's letters.^[2][3] The distance over which something is carried, with long or short, is from 1873 in railway use.^[3] To haul off, pull back before striking, is American English from 1802.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – haulen.^[2]
• 1557 – to trim the sails.^[6]
• 1670 – a haul (noun).^[2]
• 1741 – to transport.^[6]
• 1776 – something gained.^[2][3]
• 1873 – a long haul.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To pull or drag with effort; to tug.
2. To transport, as by lorry or cart.
3. To force to go somewhere, especially to court: hauled before a judge.
4. (nautical) To change the course of a ship, especially to sail closer to the wind.

Noun

1. An amount gathered or stolen in one effort; a catch or take.
2. A distance travelled or carried: a long haul.
3. The act of pulling or transporting.

Word family

• hauler
• backhaul
• downhaul
• inhaul
• outhaul
• overhaul
• rehaul
• unhauled

Related words

• hale
• haulage
• haulier
• halyard

Usage notes

In north Yorkshire a haul was a small inlet where boats from the beach were drawn up for safety.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ 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)