haven

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈheɪvən/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English, late Old English hæfen, hæfne,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old Norse hǫfn (“haven, harbour”) (genitive hafnar),^[2][3][5] from Proto-Germanic *hafnō-, source also of Danish havn, Middle Low German havene and German Hafen (“harbour”).^[6][3] Etymonline suggests PIE Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grasp”), as a place that holds ships, or a relation to Old English hæf, sea;^[6][4] Barnhart and Hoad compare Old Irish cúan, a bend, bay.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A recess of the sea or a river mouth giving shelter for ships: 1031, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, a refuge, is from about 1200 (before 1225 in the OED),^[2][7][6] and is now practically the only sense,^[6] the literal one being rhetorical.^[3] Havener, a harbour master, is from the mid-14th century.^[6] The verb, to put into a haven, is from about 1375,^[7] and to shelter as in a haven a later sense.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 1031 – a harbour.^[2]
• c. 1200 – a refuge.^[2]
• mid-14th century – havener.^[6]
• c. 1375 – the verb.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A place of refuge or rest; a sanctuary.
2. A harbour or anchorage; a port.

Verb

1. To shelter in or as if in a haven.

Word family

• havenless
• havenward

Related words

• harbour
• have
• haff

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 Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press