Etymologically
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hut

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is borrowed from French hutte (“cottage”),[2][3][4] from Middle High German hütte or Old High German hutta (“roughly built shelter”),[2][3][5] from Proto-Germanic *hudjōn, probably related to Old English hȳdan (“to hide”) (see hide),[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover, conceal”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A wooden structure for housing troops: 1545 in the OED, the mid-16th century in the New Oxford, apparently first a military word in English;[6][7][3] a rude dwelling from 1658 in Barnhart and the OED, the 1650s in Etymonline.[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

A beaver's lodge was called a hut from 1722.[6] The verb, to lodge in huts, is from 1652, and to go into winter quarters from 1807.[6] In Australia the hut is the lodging for shearers and stockmen on a sheep or cattle station, and in New Zealand a shelter for climbers and skiers.[8]

Timeline

  • 1545 – a hut for troops.[6]
  • 1652 – to hut (verb).[6]
  • 1658 – a rude dwelling.[2][6]
  • 1722 – a beaver's lodge.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A small, simple or makeshift house or shelter; a shack.
  2. A temporary building for sheltering soldiers.

Verb

  1. To shelter or live in a hut.

Word family

  • hutlike
  • hutment
  • Nissen hut
  • Quonset hut

Usage notes

In north Lincolnshire a hut was a small hovel such as a dog kennel or rabbit hutch, and in Derbyshire the hob of a grate.[9]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b 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 g h 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. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ 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)