hide English · revision 4580

+ English has three nouns and verbs spelled ''hide'': to conceal (Old English hȳdan), the skin of an animal (Old English hȳd), and an old measure of land (Old English hīd).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) The first two may share a root, but the land measure is unrelated.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /haɪd/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|conceal}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=a. 899|origins=gmw-pro *hūdijan}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|hiden]], [[inh|ang|hȳdan|t=to hide, conceal]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gmw-pro|*hūdijan]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) also the source of Old Frisian hēda and Middle Dutch and Middle Low German hūden.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is traced to [[ine-pro|*kewdʰ-|alt=*keudh-|t=to cover, hide]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) which is also seen in Greek keúthein “to conceal”, Sanskrit kuhara “cave” and Welsh cuddio “to hide”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Etymonline places this under the root *(s)keu- “to cover, conceal”, which also gave the noun hide “skin”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To hide, conceal, also to hide oneself and to bury a body: before 899 in Barnhart, in Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The core meaning has stayed the same since Old English.^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline) To conceal in order to shield or protect was a sense from Middle English to the early 17th century.^(SOED 2002) The noun, a hiding place, appears in Middle English and was revived in modern use from 1649;^(OED 1989) it now often means a shelter for watching wildlife.^(SOED 2002) ''Hide-and-seek'' is from 1672, in Dryden, replacing the earlier name ''all hid'' (1588).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 899 – to conceal.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * a. 1300 – noun, concealment.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1649 – noun, a hiding place.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1672 – ''hide-and-seek''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put or keep out of sight; to [[conceal]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To keep secret or prevent from being known.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To keep oneself out of sight, or to seek [[refuge]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(chiefly British)'' A place of [[concealment]], especially a shelter for watching birds or animals.^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hidden]]

+ * [[hideout]]

+ * [[hiding]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|skin}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=891|origins=gem-pro *hūdiz}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|hide]], [[inh|ang|hȳd|t=skin, hide]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*hūdiz]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) also the source of Old Frisian hēd, Old Saxon hūd, Dutch huid, Old Norse húð and German Haut “skin”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is from [[ine-pro|*(s)kewt-|alt=*kut-|t=skin]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) also the source of Latin cutis “skin” and Greek kýtos “hollow vessel”, and with s- Greek skýtos “skin, leather”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[cuticle]] and probably to the verb hide “to conceal”, the common notion being covering.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The skin of an animal: 891 in Barnhart, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle;^(Barnhart 1988) before 900 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Human skin is also Old English.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Used of people the word was once neutral, as German Haut still is, but since the 17th century it has been contemptuous or jocular.^(OED 1989)^(Trench 1859) Middle English paired it with hue (“complexion”) from about 1200, and the phrase ''hide nor hair'' is from the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) The verb, to flay, is from 1757 and to thrash from 1825,^(Barnhart 1988) hence ''hiding'' “a beating” (19th century).^(Hoad 1986) Impudence or nerve (1916) is chiefly Australian and New Zealand.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) ''Hidebound'' (mid 16th century) first described cattle so ill-fed that their skin clung to their ribs.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 891 – an animal's skin.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – ''hide ne hewe''.^(Etymonline)

+ * early 15th century – ''hide nor hair''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1757 – verb, to flay.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1825 – verb, to thrash.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1916 – impudence.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The skin of an animal, especially a large one, raw or [[tan]]ned.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A person's skin, especially as something at risk: ''save one's hide''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Australia, New Zealand, informal)'' Impudence or nerve.^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(informal)'' To beat or [[flog]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hidebound]]

+ * [[rawhide]]

+ * [[cowhide]]

+

+ {{homograph|3|land}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=848|origins=gem-pro *hīwaz}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|hīd]], earlier hīġid, from hīw- “family, household”,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) related to Old English hīwan “members of a household”,^(Hoad 1986) Old High German hī- and Gothic heiwa-,^(Hoad 1986) and to Latin cīvis “citizen”.^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A measure of land: 848 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the land needed to support one free family and its dependants, usually 100 or 120 acres but sometimes as little as 60, depending on the soil;^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) it was rendered in Latin as familia.^(Etymonline) It is now used only in history.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 848 – a measure of land.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(historical)'' An old English measure of land, enough to support a family, usually about 120 acres.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cuticle]]

+ * [[civil]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}