haw

haw¹ hawthorn berry

Etymology

The berry is inherited from Middle English hawe,^[2][3][1] inherited from Old English haga,^[4][5][3][6] which in Old English meant both the fruit of the hawthorn and a hedge or fenced enclosure.^[7][8] The two are probably one word:^[3][9][6] Hoad sees the link in the name of the tree, Old English hagaþorn, matched by Middle Dutch hagedorn, Middle High German hagendorn and Old Norse hagþorn,^[6] and Etymonline and the OED suggest that the berry name is short for an unrecorded "hedge-berry".^[8][4] The OED adds that this sense is found in none of the related languages.^[4] The enclosure word continues Proto-Germanic *hagô,^[8][10][11] also the source of Old Norse hagi (“pasture”), Old Saxon hago (“hedge”), Old High German hag (“hedge, enclosure”) and Middle Dutch hage, whence Dutch haag, as in the city name The Hague.^[8][4][10] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *kagh- (“to catch, seize; wickerwork fence”),^[8] and Kroonen compares Latin caulae (“a railed barrier”).^[10] It is related to hedge, hag and the first part of hawthorn.^[8][1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fruit of the hawthorn: in Old English glossaries, where hagan renders Latin words for berries;^[4][7] Barnhart dates the Middle English form hawe to about 1250.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From Old English to the late 16th century a haw was a byword for something worthless,^[4][7] as in Chaucer's "not worth an hawe".^[7] The older sense, a hedge and then the ground it enclosed, a yard or close, lasted from Old English to the 19th century,^[4][9] and survived in dialect in Kent and Yorkshire for a small enclosure next to a house.^[12] Johnson (1755) defined haw as the berry and seed of the hawthorn, quoting Bacon's belief that years rich in haws and hips foretell cold winters.^[13] Since 1821 the word has also named the hawthorn itself,^[4][9] and in America the fruit of several shrubs of the genus Viburnum and the shrubs themselves.^[2]

Timeline

• Old English – the hawthorn berry; also a thing of no value (until 1593).^[4][7]
• Old English – a hedge, then an enclosed piece of ground, a yard (until 1860).^[4][9]
• c. 1250 – the Middle English form hawe.^[3]
• 1821 – the hawthorn tree.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The small red berry of the hawthorn.^[14][2][4]
2. The hawthorn itself.^[14][4][9]
3. The fruit of certain shrubs of the genus Viburnum, or such a shrub.^[2]
4. (obsolete) A hedge; an enclosed piece of ground, a yard or close (Old English–1860).^[4][9][2]

Word family

• hawthorn
• black haw
• hawfinch

haw² third eyelid

Etymology

The word for the third eyelid is of unknown origin.^{[4][2][9][6][1][15]} Weekley suggested that it might be haw¹, from its shape.^[16]

Earliest recorded meaning

A growth in the human eye: about 1450, in a Middle English medical book;^[4][9] the Oxford Dictionary of English describes the late Middle English sense as a discharge from the eye.^[15]

Semantic evolution

The human sense died out in the late 17th century.^[4][9] From the early 16th century the word named the nictitating membrane, the "third eyelid" of a horse, dog or other animal, first in Fitzherbert's Book of Husbandry (1523),^[4][2][6] and especially that membrane when inflamed.^[2][6]

Timeline

• c. 1450 – an excrescence in the human eye (until 1684).^[4][9]
• 1523 – the nictitating membrane of a horse or dog.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The nictitating membrane of an animal such as a horse or dog, especially when inflamed.^[2][6][4]
2. (obsolete) A growth in the human eye (c. 1450–1684).^[4][9]

haw³ sound of hesitation

Etymology

The sound of hesitation is imitative.^{[8][5][2][4][9][1]} Weekley groups it with hem under hum.^[16]

Earliest recorded meaning

To hesitate in speech: Etymonline dates the verb to the 1580s,^[8] and the OED's first quotation, from Massinger and Field's Fatal Dowry, is from 1632.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a haw uttered in a pause, followed about 1600 in Etymonline's dating,^[8] while the OED's first record of the interjection is from 1679.^[4][9] Both have usually come in pairs with hum or hem: to hum and haw, or hem and haw, is to hesitate or avoid giving a clear answer.^[4][2][9] The doubled haw-haw, for an affected upper-class British way of speaking, is recorded from 1841.^[8]

Timeline

• 1580s – verb, to hesitate in speech.^[8] The OED's first quotation is from 1632.^[4][2]
• c. 1600 – noun, a hesitating sound.^[8]
• 1679 – interjection marking hesitation.^[4]
• 1841 – haw-haw, affected upper-class speech.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sound made by a speaker who pauses or hesitates while looking for words.^[2][5][14]

Interjection

1. Used to mark hesitation.^[4][9]

Verb

1. To make such a sound; usually in hem and haw or hum and haw, to hesitate or speak evasively: The minister hemmed and hawed when asked about the budget.^[2][5][4]

Word family

• haw-haw

haw⁴ turn left!

Etymology

The call to a horse is of uncertain origin,^[4][2][9] probably an expressive formation, which the OED compares with ho and hoy.^[4] Dictionary.com takes it as originally the imperative of hawen (“to look”), Old English hāwian, related to Latin caveō (“to beware”).^[17]

Earliest recorded meaning

A call telling a draught animal or team to turn left: the Shorter Oxford dates it to the late 17th century;^[9] Merriam-Webster dates the verb to 1777,^[2] and the OED's first quotation is from the Knickerbocker magazine of 1843.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word is chiefly dialectal and North American,^[9] and an Americanism of the mid-19th century in Dictionary.com.^[17] It is the counterpart of gee, the call to turn right.^[2][17] The verb followed: of a horse or team, to turn left (1846), and to turn an animal to the left (1864).^[4] In square dancing haw is also a call to move to the left.^[2]

Timeline

• late 17th century – a call to turn left.^[9] The OED's first quotation is from 1843.^[4]
• 1777 – verb, to call haw to a draught animal.^[2]
• 1846 – verb, of a horse or team, to turn left.^[4]
• 1864 – verb, to turn a horse to the left.^[4]

Meanings

Interjection

1. A command to a horse, ox or team to turn to the left; compare gee.^[2][4][9]
2. In square dancing, a call to move to the left.^[2]

Verb

1. Of a draught animal, to turn left.^[2][4]
2. To turn an animal to the left, or to call haw to it.^[2][4]