hunt English · revision 4862

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=gem-pro *huntōną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /hʌnt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|hunten]], [[inh|ang|huntian|t=to chase game]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps from hunta “hunter”,^(Etymonline) from [[gem-pro|*huntōną|alt=*huntojan]],^(Etymonline) which is related to Old English hentan “to seize”, Gothic hinþan “to seize, capture” and Old High German herihunda “spoils of war”.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Its further origin is uncertain.^(Etymonline) It is related to [[hint]].^(Barnhart 1988) It is not the usual Germanic word for hunting, which German and Dutch have as jagen.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To pursue wild animals for food or sport: about 1000 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) The Peterborough Chronicle has hunten in 1127.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To search eagerly for anything is from about 1200,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and to pursue with hostility, to chase away, from about 1340.^(OED 1989) The noun, the act of hunting, is from the early 12th century in Etymonline and about 1375 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A group of people who hunt with a pack of hounds is from the 1570s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a search for someone or something from about 1600.^(Etymonline) ''Hunt up'', to search until found, is from 1791.^(Etymonline) ''Hunt the slipper'' is attested from 1766.^(Etymonline) In change-ringing it is from 1684,^(OED 1989) and of machines, to swing back and forth, from 1920.^(OED 1989)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – to chase game.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – to search.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1250 – ''hunter''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1570s – a hunting group.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – a search.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1791 – ''hunt up''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To chase and kill wild animals for [[food]] or sport.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To [[search]] hard for someone or something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To chase someone in order to catch or harm them.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a machine, to swing back and forth around a steady state.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of hunting animals.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A search for something or someone.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A group of people who hunt together with [[hound]]s, or the area where they hunt.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[huntable]]

+ * [[huntedly]]

+ * [[headhunt]]

+ * [[hunt-and-peck]]

+ * [[hunter]]

+ * [[hunting]]

+ * [[huntress]]

+ * [[huntsman]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hint]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}