heat English · revision 2724

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=gem-pro *haitaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /hiːt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|hete]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|hǣtu|t=heat, warmth; fervor, ardor]], hǣto, also hǣte,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from West Germanic *haitīn, from [[gem-pro|*haitaz]], the source of [[m|ang|hāt]], [[hot]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) It is cognate with Old Frisian hēte and Old High German heizi, and by another vowel grade with Dutch hitte, German Hitze, Old Norse hiti and Gothic heitō “fever”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The verb is Old English hǣtan, from the same root.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The quality of being hot: about 725 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) with the OED's first example from about 825.^(OED 1989) Hot weather is also from about 825.^(OED 1989) Old English hǣtu also meant “fervor, ardor”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense, “violent action, a single intense effort”, is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and a run given to a horse to prepare it for a race from the 1570s.^(Etymonline) A single course in a race is from the 1660s, later a division of a contest with too many entrants to run at once, the winners meeting in a final.^(Etymonline) Sexual excitement in female animals, as in ''on heat'' or ''in heat'', is from 1768.^(Etymonline) In physics, ''latent heat'' is from about 1757 and ''specific heat'' from before 1832.^(OED 1989) “Trouble with the police” is slang by 1920.^(Etymonline) ''Heat wave'' is from 1890 and ''heatstroke'' from 1858.^(Etymonline) ''If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen'' is associated with Harry S. Truman, who used it in 1952, crediting Major General Harry Vaughan.^(Cresswell 2021) Bartlett (1848) reported that ''het'', as the past tense of heat, was “often heard in the mouths of illiterate people”.^(Etymonline)^(Bartlett 1848)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English hǣtu.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – a single intense effort.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570s – a run before a race.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1660s – a heat in a race.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1757 – ''latent heat''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1768 – of animals, sexual excitement.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1858 – ''heatstroke''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1890 – ''heat wave''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1920 – trouble with the police.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The quality of being hot; warmth or high [[temperature]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(physics)'' A form of [[energy]] transferred between bodies because of a difference in temperature.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Hot weather or conditions.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Intensity of feeling; [[passion]] or anger: ''in the heat of the moment''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A single round of a contest, the winners going on to the next round.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A period of sexual readiness in female mammals; [[estrus]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(slang)'' Pressure or trouble, especially from the police.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become hot or warm.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To excite or [[inflame]]: ''a heated debate''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[heatable]]

+ * [[heatless]]

+ * [[heatproof]]

+ * [[heatful]]

+ * [[heatlike]]

+ * [[heater]]

+ * [[overheat]]

+ * [[preheat]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hot]]

+ * [[heated]]

+ * [[heatwave]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}