high English · revision 1850

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 825|origins=gem-pro *hauhaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /haɪ/^(Roach et al. 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|heigh]], [[m|enm|hegh]], [[m|enm|hygh]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) [[inh|ang|hēah|t=of great height, lofty, exalted]], Anglian [[m|ang|hēh]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) from [[gem-pro|*hauhaz]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Hoad 1986) It is related to [[nl|hoog]], [[de|hoch]], [[non|hár]] and [[got|𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍃|tr=hauhs|t=high]], and to [[de|Hügel|t=hill]] and [[non|haugr|t=mound]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) The group is of uncertain origin, perhaps related to [[lt|kaukaras|t=hill]], from [[ine-pro|*kouko-]].^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) The spelling with gh represents a final guttural sound that was lost in the 14th century.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of great height, tall; lofty, exalted (Old English, about 825).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the physical sense came early figurative ones: of roads, “most frequented, main” (about 1200), of persons “proud, haughty” (about 1200, as in ''high horse'' and ''high-handed''), and of crimes or punishments “grave, severe” (about 1200, as in ''high treason'').^(Etymonline) ''High noon'', the sun at its height, is from the early 14th century, where the sense is “full, complete”;^(Etymonline) ''high time'' is from the late 14th.^(Etymonline) Of sound pitch the word dates from the late 14th century, and of prices from 1542.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED) The sense “excited by drink” is first attested in 1627;^(GDoS)^(Dalzell 2013)^(Cresswell 2021) of drugs it is recorded from the early 1930s.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Dalzell 2013)^(Etymonline) The biological sense “advanced”, as in ''the higher apes'', dates from 1848.^(Barnhart 1995) The noun, a high point, is recorded before 1325;^(Barnhart 1995) its other senses are American: an area of high pressure (1878), a record level (1926) and a euphoric state (1953).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''High school'', a school for advanced studies, appears in Scotland in the late 15th century and in the United States by 1824.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 825 – Old English ''hēh'', ''hēah''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – of roads, main; proud; grave (''high treason'').^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1303 – ''hygh'', in Mannyng's ''Handlyng Synne''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 14th century – ''high noon''.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – of sound pitch, and ''high time''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1542 – of prices.^(HTOED)

+ * 1627 – excited by drink.^(GDoS)^(Dalzell 2013)

+ * 1831 – ''high tea''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1848 – advanced in development (biology).^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1878 – noun, an area of high barometric pressure.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1932 – under the influence of drugs.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1953 – noun, a drug-induced euphoria.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Extending far upward; [[tall]] or [[lofty]]; of a specified height: ''ten feet high''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Situated far above the ground or a base level.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Great in amount, degree, force or value: ''high prices'' or ''high speed''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # Great in rank, status or importance; morally or culturally superior.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # At or near its peak: ''high summer''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of a sound, raised in [[pitch]].^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # ''(informal)'' Intoxicated by drugs or alcohol; elated.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Dalzell 2013)

+ # Of meat, slightly tainted, as game is when hung.^(AHD)^(GDoS)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # At or to a high position, level or degree.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Luxuriously: ''live high''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A high point or level; a record: ''sales reached a new high''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An area of high atmospheric pressure; an [[anticyclone]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A state of euphoria, induced by or as if by a drug.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(GDoS)

+ # ''(on high)'' The sky or heaven.^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[highly]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[height]]

+ * [[highland]]

+ * [[highway]]

+ * [[hie]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''High'' is the most general word for great upward extent;^(AHD) ''tall'' is used of what has great height relative to its breadth, especially living things, and ''lofty'' of imposing height.^(AHD)^(RHWU) The adverb ''high'' (''hung high on the wall'') is distinct from ''highly'' (''highly esteemed'').^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}