Etymologically
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haul

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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
  • 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)