haven English · revision 7552

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1031|origins=non hǫfn}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈheɪvən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English, late Old English hæfen, hæfne,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|non|hǫfn|t=haven, harbour]] (genitive hafnar),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) from Proto-Germanic *hafnō-, source also of Danish havn, Middle Low German havene and German [[m|de|Hafen|t=harbour]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline suggests PIE [[ine-pro|*keh₂p-|alt=*kap-|t=to grasp]], as a place that holds ships, or a relation to Old English hæf, sea;^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Barnhart and Hoad compare Old Irish cúan, a bend, bay.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A recess of the sea or a river mouth giving shelter for ships: 1031, in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense, a refuge, is from about 1200 (before 1225 in the OED),^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and is now practically the only sense,^(Etymonline) the literal one being rhetorical.^(Hoad 1986) ''Havener'', a harbour master, is from the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) The verb, to put into a haven, is from about 1375,^(OED 1989) and to shelter as in a haven a later sense.^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1031 – a harbour.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – a refuge.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-14th century – havener.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1375 – the verb.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A place of [[refuge]] or rest; a [[sanctuary]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[harbour]] or anchorage; a port.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To shelter in or as if in a haven.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[havenless]]

+ * [[havenward]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[harbour]]

+ * [[have]]

+ * [[haff]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}