hurt English · revision 2675

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200, Ancrene Riwle|origins=frk *hurt}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /hɜːt/, US /hɝːt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|hurten]], hirten,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) probably [[bor|fro|hurter|t=to ram, strike, collide with]] (modern heurter),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) a word of uncertain origin,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) perhaps from [[frk|*hurt|t=ram]],^(Etymonline) compare Middle High German hurten “to run at, collide”, Old Norse hrútr “ram” and Middle Dutch horten “to knock”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Celtic origins have also been proposed.^(Etymonline) The English word is as old as the French, and there may have been an unrecorded native Old English *hyrtan.^(Etymonline) The noun is probably from the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The verb, “to damage, harm, knock or dash against”: probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'',^(Barnhart 1988) or about 1200;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Hoad finds the form hirrtenn in the 12th century.^(Hoad 1986) The noun, “a wound”, is from the same time.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The original sense of knocking or striking things together died out in the 17th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) but compare [[hurtle]].^(Etymonline) Injury to a person's body, feelings or reputation is found from the beginning.^(Etymonline) The noun also meant “sorrow, lovesickness” in Middle English,^(Etymonline) and the sense “injury” is found only in English, not in the French.^(Etymonline) ''To hurt one's feelings'' is attested by 1779.^(Etymonline) “To be a source of pain”, of a body part, is from 1850,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the intransitive “to feel pain” in its current use from about 1902.^(Etymonline) Other Germanic languages tend to use their cognate of English [[scathe]] for this meaning.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – verb, to injure; to knock against.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – noun, a wound.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – adjective, wounded.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1779 – ''to hurt one's feelings''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1850 – of a body part, to be painful.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1902 – to feel pain.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cause physical [[pain]] or damage to; to [[injure]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To cause mental or emotional [[suffering]] to; to distress.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To harm or impair: ''the scandal hurt his chances''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To feel or cause pain: ''my back hurts''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' To be in need, especially of money.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A physical injury; a wound.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Mental or emotional pain.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Harm or wrong.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Injured; showing distress: ''a hurt look''.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hurter]]

+ * [[hurtable]]

+ * [[hurtle]]

+ * [[unhurt]]

+ * [[hurtful]]

+ * [[hurtless]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scathe]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two other words are spelled ''hurt'': in heraldry a blue roundel, from French heurte,^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) and a dialect name for the whortleberry, of unknown origin.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}