hack English · revision 10312

17 Oct 2026, 02:27 by bogdan “en10k b0344: bout … rabbit”
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+ Hack, to cut, is from Old English -haccian; hack, a hired horse or drudge, is a shortening of hackney.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /hæk/^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ {{homograph|1|cut}}
+ 
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1200|origins=gmw-pro *hakkōn}}
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is Middle English hacken, from Old English -haccian in [[inh|ang|tōhaccian|t=to hack to pieces]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from West Germanic *hakkōn,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) source also of Old Frisian hakkia, Dutch hakken and German [[m|de|hacken]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Barnhart calls it of unknown origin;^(Barnhart 1988) Hoad sees an imitative base *hak-,^(Hoad 1986) and Etymonline gives PIE *keg-, hook, tooth, perhaps influenced by Old Norse hǫggva, to hew.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ To cut roughly, with chopping blows: about 1200, probably before 1200 in the ''Ancrene Riwle''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ ''Hack after'', to keep working away at, is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) The noun, a tool for chopping, is from before 1325 (the early 14th century),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) a cut or notch from the 1570s,^(Etymonline) and figuratively a try or attempt by 1898.^(Etymonline) To give a short dry cough is from 1802, perhaps imitative,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and the noun, a dry cough, from 1885.^(Barnhart 1988) The American slang sense, to cope with, as in ''can't hack it'', is by 1955, from the idea of getting through something by effort.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) To gain unauthorized access to a computer system is from the 1980s (by 1984), a back-formation from [[hacker]], which appeared in the 1970s.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1200 – to chop.^(Etymonline)
+ * before 1325 – a chopping tool.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1570s – a cut.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1802 – to cough.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1898 – an attempt.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1955 – to cope with (slang).^(Etymonline)
+ * 1984 – to break into a computer.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Verb===
+ # To cut or chop with repeated rough blows.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # To clear a way through undergrowth by cutting.^(Collins 2023)
+ # ''(informal)'' To manage or cope with: ''can't hack it''.^(AHD)
+ # To gain unauthorized access to a [[computer]] system, or to work as a hacker.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # To cough harshly in short dry bursts.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # ''(sport)'' To kick or strike an opponent illegally.^(Collins 2023)
+ 
+ ===Noun===
+ # A rough cut made by hacking.^(AHD)
+ # A tool, such as a hoe, used for hacking.^(AHD)
+ # A rough dry cough.^(AHD)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[hacker]]
+ * [[hacking]]
+ * [[hacksaw]]
+ 
+ {{homograph|2|hireling}}
+ 
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=before 1700|origins=en hackney}}
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is a shortening of [[hackney]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) an ordinary riding horse (about 1300), probably from the place name Hackney in Middlesex, where nags were apparently raised.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A person hired to do routine work, a drudge: before 1700 in Barnhart, about 1700 in Etymonline;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the SOED records hack as a horse for ordinary riding from Middle English.^(SOED 2002)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ Hackney itself had passed from a horse for hire to a broken-down nag, a prostitute (1570s) and a drudge (1540s), especially a literary one.^(Etymonline) A carriage for hire is from 1704, in Steele's ''Lying Lover'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) hence the modern slang for a taxicab.^(Etymonline) As an adjective, hired, it is from 1734,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''hack writer'' from 1826,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and ''hack-work'' from 1851.^(Etymonline) To employ as a literary hack is from 1813, in Scott,^(Barnhart 1988) and to make commonplace from 1745.^(Etymonline) An American henchman is from before 1848.^(Barnhart 1988) Bartlett (1848) notes that women applied hack to any article of dress kept for everyday use.^(Etymonline)^(Bartlett 1848)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1700 – a drudge.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1704 – a carriage for hire.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1734 – the adjective.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1813 – to employ as a hack.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1826 – hack writer.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * before 1848 – a henchman.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A writer or journalist who produces dull, routine work for money.^(AHD)
+ # A person who does distasteful work for money; a hireling.^(AHD)
+ # A horse for ordinary riding, or a worn-out horse for hire.^(AHD)
+ # ''(US)'' A taxicab or its driver.^(AHD)
+ 
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Of routine commercial writing; [[hackneyed]].^(AHD)
+ 
+ ===Verb===
+ # To drive a taxicab, or to work as a hired writer.^(AHD)
+ # To ride a horse at an ordinary pace.^(AHD)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[hackney]]
+ * [[hackneyed]]
+ * [[hack writer]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[hew]]
+ * [[hatchet]]
+ * [[hackle]]
+ 
+ ==Usage notes==
+ A hack is also a board on which a hawk's meat is laid, a variant of [[hatch]];^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) a young hawk kept ''at hack'' is in a state of partial liberty.^(SOED 2002)
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}