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haïr

Etymology and origin of the French word haïr

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland
Borrowed from
Frankish *hatjan
Ultimate origin
Frankish (*hatjan)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Europe): /a.iʁ/[1]
  • IPA (Canada): /a.iʁ/[1]
  • IPA (Canada): /a.jiʁ/[1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): /ha.ir/[1]

Forms

haïr[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Frankish *hatjan (“to hate”),[2][3][4][5] reconstructed from Old High German hâzen, Middle High German hazzen and German hassen, and akin to English hate.[2][3][4] The Reichenau Glosses (late 8th century) gloss Latin “odisti” as “hadisti” “you hated”.[2] Wiktionary takes the Frankish verb from Proto-Germanic *hatjaną (“to hunt, attack”).[1] Littré thought the ending “-ir” pointed rather to Old English hatian.[6]

A prefixed form enhadir (“to take a hatred to”) is found earlier, about 1050 in the “Vie de saint Alexis”.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has häir “to hate, wish harm to someone”.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It was used absolutely about 1160 and with a thing as object (häir orgueil) about 1165.[2][3] The verb wavered from the 12th century between simple and inchoative forms; the inchoative conjugation (haïssons) prevailed in the 16th century and was fixed in the 17th, except in the singular of the present indicative and the imperative (je hais).[2] The classical constructions haïr à and haïr de are obsolete.[3][7]

By litotes ne pas haïr means “to like”, as in Rabelais (1532, je ne vous hays point) and in Corneille's Va, je ne te hais point.[8][9] The noun haine dates from about 1150 (haïne).[3][4]

Timeline

  • Late 8th century – Hadisti in the Reichenau Glosses.[2]
  • c. 1050 – Enhadir in Saint Alexis.[2]
  • c. 1100 – Häir in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1150 – The noun haïne.[3]
  • 1532 – Je ne vous hays point in Rabelais.[8]
  • 1569 – Haïssable.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To hate (someone): haïr qqn à mort, ne pas haïr: to like rather well.[9][10]
  2. To hate, loathe (something): haïr la contrainte.[9][10]
  3. (literary) Haïr de + infinitive: to hate doing something.[9][7]
  4. (reflexive) To hate oneself; to hate each other.[10]

Word family

  • haine
  • haïssable
  • haineux
  • haïsseur
  • English hate
  • English heinous

Usage notes

The h is aspirated (je le hais, not je l'hais), but in Canada the verb is often pronounced with a mute h (j'hais).[2][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 178a
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Haïr.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/ha%C3%AFr. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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