hot English · revision 3583

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=971 (Old English hāt)|origins=gem-pro *haitaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|hot]], [[inh|ang|hāt|t=hot, fervent, fierce]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*haitaz]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) Its cognates include [[osx|hēt]], [[nl|heet]], [[de|heiß]] and [[non|heitr]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) and Gothic has heito “heat of a fever”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) It is of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Lithuanian [[m|lt|kaisti|t=to grow hot]],^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Klein 1966) and Etymonline suggests that both may be from a substrate word.^(Etymonline) It is related to [[heat]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) The Middle English vowel was long, rhyming with boat, and shortened in modern English, perhaps under the influence of the comparative hotter.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Having a high temperature, and also fervent, fierce or excited: Old English ''hāt'', recorded in 971,^(Barnhart 1988) with the OED's earliest quotations from about 1000.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Hot as “full of sexual desire” is from about 1500,^(Etymonline) and Word Origins notes that the word has described sexual arousal since the Middle Ages.^(Cresswell 2021) Of news, “fresh, sensational”, it is from 1569.^(HTOED) The taste sense “pungent, spicy” is from the 1540s.^(Etymonline) In hunting, a ''hot'' scent is from 1595,^(HTOED) the source of ''hot'' and ''cold'' in children's guessing games.^(Etymonline) “At a high voltage, live” is from 1925.^(OED 1989) The sense “exciting, very good” is from 1895, ''hot stuff'' by 1889, and the jazz sense from 1924.^(Etymonline) Of stolen goods, “easily identified and hard to dispose of”, it is first recorded in 1925^(Etymonline) or 1873,^(HTOED) and “radioactive” is from 1942.^(Etymonline) Sexually attractive is from 1926.^(HTOED) ''The hots'', “strong sexual desire”, is from 1940.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb ''hot up'' is from 1909.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 971 – Old English ''hāt''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1500 – lustful.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – pungent.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1569 – of news, fresh.^(HTOED)

+ * 1895 – exciting, very good.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1909 – verb, ''hot up''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1924 – of jazz.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1925 – stolen; at a high voltage.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1940 – ''the hots''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1942 – radioactive.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having a high temperature; giving off heat.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Warmer than normal or desirable; feeling heat.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Causing a burning taste; [[spicy]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Charged with electricity; [[radioactive]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Marked by intense feeling; [[passionate]], angry or lustful.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' Fresh, recent; very popular or successful.^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+ # ''(slang)'' Stolen and easily identified.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # In a hot manner; hotly.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become more intense or exciting: ''hot up''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''the hots'' ''(slang)'' Strong sexual desire.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hotness]]

+ * [[hottish]]

+ * [[hotly]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[heat]]

+ * [[hotbed]]

+ * [[hot dog]]

+ * [[hotshot]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An unrelated northern and Scots dialect word ''hot'', a basket for carrying earth or dung, is from Old French ''hotte''.^(SOED 2002)^(Wright 1898)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}