Etymology dictionary

hajj (n.) — Hans

hajj (n.)

also hadj, "the pilgrimage to Mecca," which every free Muslim is bound to make, as a religious duty, from Arabic hajj "pilgrimage," from hajja "he went on a pilgrimage." Related to Hebrew haghagh "he made a pilgrimage, celebrated a feast," hagh "a gathering." One who has made it is a hajji and afterward bears that title as a designation of honor.

hake (n.)

type of sea fish, late 13c., probably from Old English haca "a hook, door-fastening" (related to hacod "pike" the fish), or from cognate Old Norse haki "hook;" in either case the fish so called from the shape of its jaw; both from Proto-Germanic *hakan (cognate with Dutch hake "hook"), from PIE root *keg- "hook, tooth."

Hakeem

also Hakim, masculine proper name, from Arabic hakim "wise," as a noun "physician; philosopher; governor," from stem of hakuma "he was wise;" whence also hakam "judge," hikmah "wisdom, science."

Hakenkreuz (n.)

1931, proper German name for the Nazi swastika (q.v.), literally "hook-cross," from Old High German hako "hook," from Proto-Germanic *hoka-, from PIE root *keg- "hook, tooth."

halal (adj.)

1858, Arabic, literally "lawful." Halal food has been prepared in a manner prescribed by Islamic law.

halberd (n.)

medieval weapon (a broad blade with sharp edges, ending in a point and mounted on a long handle), late 15c., from French hallebarde (earlier alabarde, 15c.), from Middle High German halmbarte "broad-axe with handle," from halm "handle" (see helm) + barte "hatchet," from Proto-Germanic *bardoz "beard" (see beard (n.)), also "hatchet, broadax" ("because the actual axe looks like a beard stuck to the wooden handle" - Boutkan). An alternative etymology [Kluge, Darmesteter] traces first element to helm "helmet," making the weapon an axe for smashing helmets. In 15c.-16c. especially the arm of foot-soldiers.

halcyon (adj.)

"calm, quiet, peaceful," 1540s, in halcyon dayes (translating Latin alcyonei dies, Greek alkyonides hemerai), 14 days of calm weather at the winter solstice, when a mythical bird (also identified with the kingfisher) was said to breed in a nest floating on calm seas. The name of this fabulous bird is attested in Middle English as alcioun (late 14c.).

The name is from Latin halcyon, alcyon, from Greek halkyon, variant (perhaps a misspelling) of alkyon "kingfisher," a word of unknown origin. The explanation that this is from hals "sea; salt" (see halo-) + kyon "conceiving," present participle of kyein "to conceive," literally "to swell" (see cumulus) probably is ancient folk-etymology to explain a loan-word from a non-Indo-European language. Identified in mythology with Halcyone, daughter of Aeolus, who when widowed threw herself into the sea and became a kingfisher.

hale (adj.)

"in good health, robust," Old English hal "healthy, sound, safe; entire; uninjured; genuine, straightforward," from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (source also of Old Frisian hel "complete, full; firm" (of ground), Old High German heil, Old Norse heill "hale, sound," Gothic hails "hale"), from PIE *kailo- "whole, uninjured, of good omen" (see health). The Scottish and northern English form of whole and with a more etymological spelling. It later acquired a literary sense of "free from infirmity" (1734), especially in reference to the aged. Related: Haleness.

hale (v.)

c. 1200, "drag, pull," in Middle English used of arrows, bowstrings, reins, swords, anchors, etc., from Old French haler "to pull, haul, tow, tug" (12c.), from Frankish *halon or Old Dutch halen or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *halon "to call," from PIE root *kele- (2) "to shout." Figurative sense of "to draw (someone) from one condition to another" is late 14c. Related: Haled; haling.

half

Old English half, halb (Mercian), healf (W. Saxon) "side, part," not necessarily of equal division (original sense preserved in behalf), from Proto-Germanic *halba- "something divided" (source also of Old Saxon halba, Old Norse halfr, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch half, German halb, Gothic halbs "half"), a word of no certain etymology. Perhaps from PIE root *skel- (1) "to cut," or perhaps a substratum word. Noun, adjective, and adverb all were in Old English.

Used also in Old English phrases, as in modern German, to mean "one half unit less than," for example þridda healf "two and a half," literally "half third." The construction in two and a half, etc., is first recorded c. 1200. Of time, in half past ten, etc., first attested 1750; in Scottish, the half often is prefixed to the following hour (as in German, halb elf = "ten thirty").

To go off half-cocked in the figurative sense "speak or act too hastily" (1833) is in allusion to firearms going off prematurely; half-cocked in a literal sense "with the cock lifted to the first catch, at which position the trigger does not act" is recorded by 1750. In 1770 it was noted as a synonym for "drunk." Bartlett ("Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848) writes that it was "a metaphorical expression borrowed from the language of sportsmen, and is applied to a person who attempts a thing in a hurry without due preparation, and consequently fails."

half-

in genealogical combinations, "sharing one parent," Middle English, from half.

half-and-half (n.)

1756 as "ale and porter;" as a mixture of milk and cream, by 1946.

half-assed (adj.)

"ineffectual," 1932; "Dictionary of American Slang" suggests it is perhaps a humorous mispronunciation of haphazard. Compare half-hearted.

half-baked (adj.)

1620s as "underdone;" colloquial figurative sense of "silly, immature" is from 1855; see half + bake (v.).

half-blood (n.)

"person of mixed race," 1826; see half + blood (n.). As an adjective, "born of one parent the same and one different," from 1550s. Half-blooded as an adjective in this sense is from c. 1600.

half-breed (n.)

"person of mixed race," 1760; as an adjective by 1762; from half + breed (n.).

half-brother (n.)

early 14c., from half- + brother.

half-caste (adj.)

1789, Anglo-Indian, in reference to the offspring of a European father and an Asian mother, from half + caste.

half-cent (n.)

U.S. copper coin minted from 1793 to 1857, established and named in the 1786 resolution for a new monetary system; see half + cent.

half-dime (n.)

U.S. silver coin minted from 1792 to 1873; originally half-disme; later form by 1800; from half + dime.

half-eagle (n.)

U.S. $5 gold coin minted from 1795 to 1929, authorized in the 1786 resolution for a new monetary system; see half + eagle in the coinage sense.

half-hearted (adj.)

also halfhearted, "showing little enthusiasm," early 15c.; see half + -hearted. Related: halfheartedly; halfheartedness. English in 17c. had also half-headed "stupid."

half-hour (n.)

"period of thirty minutes," early 15c., from half + hour. Related: Half-hourly.

halfling (n.)

"one not fully grown," 1794, from half + -ling.

half-life (n.)

also half life, 1864, "unsatisfactory way of living," from half + life; the sense in physics, "amount of time it takes half a given amount of radioactivity to decay" is first attested 1907.

half-mast

1620s, from half + mast (n.1).

half-measure (n.)

"incomplete effort," 1798, from half + measure (n.).

half-moon (n.)

1520s; from half + moon (n.).

halfpenny (n.)

mid-13c. (though implied in Old English healfpenigwurð "halfpenny-worth"); see half + penny.

half-price (n.)

1720, from half + price (n.).

half seas over (adj.)

slang for "drunk," 1736, sometimes said to be from notion of a ship heavy-laden and so low in the water that small waves (half seas) wash over the deck. This suits the sense, but the phrase is not recorded in this alleged literal sense. Half seas over "halfway across the sea" is recorded from 1550s, however, and it was given a figurative extension to "halfway through a matter" by 1690s. What drunkenness is halfway to is not clear.

half-shirt (n.)

1660s, "shirt front," from half + shirt. In modern use, "shirt cropped high at the waist," 2000.

half-sister (n.)

c. 1200, from half- + sister.

half-time (n.)

also halftime, half time, indicating "half of the time," 1640s, from half + time (n.). Tempo sense is by 1880. In football, from 1867.

half-track (n.)

also halftrack, type of military vehicle with traction-chains as well as wheels, 1927, from half + track (n.).

half-truth (n.)

1650s, from half + truth.

halfway (adv.)

also half-way, Old English healfweg; see half + way (n.). Halfway house originally was a common name for inns midway between cities or stages.

half-wit (n.)

"simpleton" (one lacking all his wits), 1755, from half + wit (n.). Earlier "a would-be wit whose abilities are mediocre" (1670s).

Phrase out of half wit "half out of one's mind" was in Middle English (late 14c.). Half-witted "lacking common sense" is from 1640s.

hali-

word-forming element meaning "salt, a lump of salt," from Greek hali-, combining form of hals (genitive halos) "a lump of salt, salt generally," and in Homer, "the sea," from PIE root *sal- "salt."

halibut (n.)

large flatfish, early 15c., perhaps from hali "holy" (see holy) + butte "flatfish" (see butt (n.4)). Supposedly so called from its being eaten on holy days (compare cognate Dutch heilbot, Low German heilbutt, Swedish helgeflundra, Danish helleflynder).

halide (n.)

a compound of a halogen and a metal radical, 1844, from Swedish (Berzelius, 1825), from halo- + chemical suffix -ide.

halieutic (adj.)

"pertaining to fishing," 1854, from Latin halieuticus, from Greek halieutikos "pertaining to fishing," from halieuein "to fish," from hals "the sea," literally "salt" (from PIE root *sal- "salt"). Halieutics "writing on the art of fishing" is from 1640s (Latin Halieutica was the title of a poem on fishing by Ovid).

Halifax

place in West Yorkshire, late 11c., from Old English halh "secluded spot, nook of land" (cognate with Old English holh "hole, cavity") + feax "rough grass," literally "hair" (from Proto-Germanic *fahsan). In popular expressions coupled with Hull and Hell at least since 1620s. "In the 16th cent. the name was wrongly interpreted as OE halig-feax, 'holy hair', and a story invented of a maiden killed by a lustful priest whose advances she refused." [Victor Watts, "English Place-Names"]

halite (n.)

"rock-salt, natural sodium chloride," 1868, coined as Modern Latin halites in 1847 by German mineralogist Ernst Friedrich Glocker (1793-1858), from Greek hals "salt" (from PIE root *sal- "salt") + chemical noun suffix -ite (2).

halitosis (n.)

"bad breath," 1874, coined in Modern Latin from Latin halitus "breath, exhalation, steam, vapor" (which is related to halare "to breathe, emit vapor") + Greek-based noun suffix -osis.

hall (n.)

Old English heall "spacious roofed residence, house; temple; law-court," any large place covered by a roof, from Proto-Germanic *hallo "covered place, hall" (source also of Old Saxon, Old High German halla, German halle, Dutch hal, Old Norse höll "hall;" Old English hell, Gothic halja "hell"), from PIE root *kel- (1) "to cover, conceal, save."

Sense of "passageway in a building" evolved 17c., from the time when the doors to private rooms opened onto the large public room of the house. Older sense preserved in town hall, music hall, etc., in use of the word in Britain and Southern U.S. for "manor house," also "main building of a college" (late 14c.). French halle, Italian alla are from Middle High German. Hall of fame attested by 1786 as an abstract concept; in sporting sense first attested 1901, in reference to Columbia College; the Baseball Hall of Fame opened in 1939. Related: Hall-of-famer.

hallelujah

also halleluiah, 1530s, from Late Latin hallelujah, alleluia, from Greek allelouia, from Hebrew hallalu-yah "praise ye Jehovah," from hallalu, plural imperative of hallel "to praise" also "song of praise," from hillel "he praised," of imitative origin, with primary sense being "to trill." Second element is yah, shortened form of Yahweh, name of God. Earlier English form alleluia (12c.) is from Old French alleluie.

hallmark (n.)

1721, official stamp of purity in gold and silver articles, from Goldsmiths' Hall in London, site of the assay office; see hall + mark (n.1). General sense of "mark of quality" first recorded 1864. As a verb from 1773.

hallo (interj.)

shout to call attention, 1781, earlier hollo, holla (also see hello). "Such forms, being mere syllables to call attention, are freely varied for sonorous effect" [Century Dictionary]. Old English had ea la. Halow as a shipman's cry to incite effort is from mid-15c.; Halloo as a verb, "to pursue with shouts, to shout in the chase," is from late 14c. Compare also harou, cry of distress, late 13c., from French.

halloo (v.)

see hallo.

hallow (n.)

"holy person, saint," Old English haliga, halga, from hallow (v.). Obsolete except in Halloween.

hallows (n.)

in All-Hallows, a survival of hallow in the noun sense of "holy personage, saint," attested from Old English haligra but little used after c. 1500. Hallowmas "All-saints" is first attested late 14c.

hallow (v.)

Old English halgian "to make holy, sanctify; to honor as holy, consecrate, ordain," related to halig "holy," from Proto-Germanic *hailagon (source also of Old Saxon helagon, Middle Dutch heligen, Old Norse helga), from PIE root *kailo- "whole, uninjured, of good omen" (see health). Used in Christian translations to render Latin sanctificare. Related: Hallowed; hallowing.

Halloween (n.)

also Hallow-e'en, Hallow e'en, "last night of October (the eve of All Saints Day) as a popular holiday," 1781, in a Scottish context, a Scottish shortening of Allhallowe'en, All Hallows even, etc., 1550s, "the evening before All-Hallows." This is from otherwise-obsolete hallow (n.), in Middle English halwe, "holy person, saint," from Old English halga, which is from the source of hallow (v.). Also see even (n.), and compare hallows.

All-Hallows is Middle English al-halwe, late Old English ealra halgan "all saints, the saints in heaven collectively," also the name of the feast day and of individual churches. The date Oct. 31 is described as alle halwe eue by c. 1300. Hallow-day for "All-Saints Day" is from 1590s; earlier was halwemesse day (late 13c.). Hallowtide (15c.) was the first week of November.

The last night of the year in the old Celtic calendar, where it was Old Year's Night, a night for witches. A pagan holiday given a cursory baptism. The word and the magical lore about the date were popularized by Burns' poem (1785, and he attached a footnote explaining it), but it probably dates to 17c. in Scotland and is the name of a tune in 1724. The tune is mentioned again in an English-Scots songbook ("The Chearful Companion") in 1783, and Burns was not the first to describe the customs in print.

Hallstatt

1866 in reference to an Iron Age civilization of Europe, from the name of a village in Upper Austria, where implements from this period were found. The Germanic name is literally "place of salt," in reference to ancient salt mines there, which preserved the bodies of the original miners.

hallucinate (v.)

"to have illusions," 1650s, from Latin alucinatus (later hallucinatus), past participle of alucinari "wander (in the mind), dream; talk unreasonably, ramble in thought," probably from Greek alyein, Attic halyein "wander in mind, be at a loss, be beside oneself (with grief, joy, perplexity), be distraught," also "wander about," which probably is related to alaomai "wander about" [Barnhart, Klein]. The Latin ending probably was influenced by vaticinari "to prophecy," also "to rave." Older in English in a rare and now obsolete transitive sense "deceive" (c. 1600); occasionally used 19c. in transitive sense "to cause hallucination." Related: Hallucinated; hallucinating.

hallucination (n.)

"a seeing or hearing something which is not there," 1640s, from Latin hallucinationem (nominative hallucinatio), earlier alucinatio, noun of action from past-participle stem of alucinari (see hallucinate). Related: Hallucinations.

hallucinatory (adj.)

1823; see hallucinate + -ory.

hallucinogenic (adj.)

1952, from hallucinogen + -ic.

hallucinogen (n.)

"drug which induces hallucinations," 1954, from stem of hallucination + -gen.

hallux (n.)

1831, from Modern Latin hallux, corruption of Late Latin allex "great toe," which is of unknown origin. Related: Hallucal.

hallway (n.)

1839, from hall + way (n.).

halo (n.)

1560s, "ring of light around the sun or moon," from Latin halo (nominative halos), from Greek halos "disk of the sun or moon; ring of light around the sun or moon" (also "disk of a shield"); ""threshing floor; garden," of unknown origin. The sense "threshing floor" (on which oxen trod out a circular path) probably is the original in Greek. The development to "disk" and then to "halo" would be via roundness. Sense of "light around the head of a holy person or deity" first recorded 1640s. As a verb from 1791 (implied in Haloed).

halo-

before vowels hal-, word-forming element meaning "salt, sea," from Greek hals (genitive halos) "a lump of salt, salt generally," in Homer, "the sea," from PIE root *sal- "salt."

halogen (n.)

general name for elements of the chlorine family, 1842, from Swedish, coined by Swedish chemist Baron Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779-1848), literally "salt-producer," from Greek hals "salt" (from PIE root *sal- "salt") + -gen "giving birth to" (see -gen); so called because a salt is formed in reactions involving these four elements. Related: Halogenous.

halt (n.)

"a stop, a halting," 1590s, from French halte (16c.) or Italian alto, ultimately from German Halt, imperative from Old High German halten "to hold" (see hold (v.)). A German military command borrowed into the Romanic languages 16c.

halt (v.2)

"to walk unsteadily, move with a limping gait," early 14c., from Old English haltian (Anglian), healtian (West Saxon), "to limp, be lame; to hesitate," from Proto-Germanic *halton (source also of Old Saxon halton, Middle Dutch halten, Old High German halzen), derivative verb from the source of halt (adj.). Figurative use from early 15c. Related: Halted; halting.

halt (adj.)

"lame," in Old English lemphalt "limping," from Proto-Germanic *haltaz (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian halt, Old Norse haltr, Old High German halz, Gothic halts "lame"), from PIE *keld-, from root *kel- (1) "to strike, cut," with derivatives meaning "something broken or cut off" (source also of Russian koldyka "lame," Greek kolobos "broken, curtailed"). The noun meaning "one who limps; the lame collectively" is from c. 1200.

halting (n.)

"act of limping or walking lamely," late 14c., earlier haltinde (early 14c.), verbal noun from halt (v.2). Related: Haltingly.

halt (v.1)

"make a halt," 1650s, from halt (n.). As a command word, attested from 1796. Related: Halted; halting.

halter (n.)

Old English hælfter "rope for leading a horse," from Proto-Germanic *halftra- "that by which something is held" (source also of Old Saxon haliftra "halter," Old High German halftra, Middle Dutch halfter), from suffixed form of PIE *kelp- "to hold, grasp" (see helve). Also "hangman's noose" (mid-15c.). In women's clothing sense, originally "strap attached to the top of a backless bodice and looped around the neck," 1935, later extended to the tops themselves.

halve (v.)

Middle English halven, halfen "to divide in halves" (c. 1200), from half (n.). Meaning "to reduce by half" is from c. 1400. Related: Halved; halving.

halyard (n.)

"rope for hoisting or lowering sails," 1620s, earlier halier (late 14c.), also in Middle English "a carrier, porter" (late 13c. in surnames), from halen "to haul" (see hale (v.)). Spelling influenced 17c. by yard (n.2) "long beam that supports a sail."

ham (n.2)

"overacting inferior performer," 1882, American English, apparently a shortening of hamfatter (1880) "actor of low grade," which is said (at least since 1889) to be from the old minstrel show song, "The Ham-fat Man" (attested by 1856). The song, a comical black-face number, has nothing to do with acting, but the connection might be with the quality of acting in minstrel shows, where the song was popular (compare the definition of hambone in the 1942 "American Thesaurus of Slang," "unconvincing blackface dialectician"). Its most popular aspect was the chorus and the performance of the line "Hoochee, kouchee, kouchee, says the ham fat man."

Ham also had a sports slang sense of "incompetent pugilist" (1888), perhaps from the notion in ham-fisted. The notion of "amateurish" led to the sense of "amateur radio operator" (1919).

ham (n.1)

"thigh of a hog used for food" (especially salted and cured or smoke-dried), 1630s, extended from earlier sense of "part of the human leg behind the knee; hock of a quadruped," from Old English hamm "hollow or bend of the knee," from Proto-Germanic *hamma- (source also of Old Norse höm, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch hamme, Old High German hamma). This is from PIE *knam- "shin bone" (source also of Greek knēmē "calf of the leg, shank, tibia; spoke of a wheel," Old Irish cnaim "bone").

Ham-fisted (adj.) in reference to hard-hitting characters is from 1905; ham-handed "coarse, clumsy" is by 1896. With hammen ifalden "with folded hams" was a Middle English way of saying "kneeling."

ham (v.)

"over-act in performance," 1933, from ham (n.2). Related: Hammed; hamming. As an adjective in this sense by 1935.

hamadryad (n.)

late 14c., from Greek hamadryas (plural hamadryades) "wood-nymph," fabled to die with her tree, from hama "together with" (from PIE root *sem- (1) "one; as one, together with") + dryas (plural dryades) "wood nymph," from drus (genitive dryos) "tree," especially "oak" (from PIE root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast," with specialized senses "wood, tree"). Use in 19c. biology for a type of butterfly, a type of venomous Indian serpent, and a type of large hairy baboon.

hamartia (n.)

"tragic flaw," Greek, literally "fault, failure, guilt, sin" from hamartanein "to fail of one's purpose; to err, sin," originally "to miss the mark," from PIE *hemert- "to miss, fail." "The aspiration must be analogical. The word has no known cognates, but the reconstructed root looks perfectly IE" [Robert Beekes, "Etymological Dictionary of Greek"].

hamartiology (n.)

"that part of theology which deals with sin and its effects," 1875, from Greek hamartia "sin" (see hamartia) + -ology.

hambone (n.)

also ham-bone, 1771, "bone of a ham," from ham (n.1) + bone (n.). Meaning "inferior actor or performer" is from 1893, an elaboration of ham (n.2).

hamburger (n.)

1610s, Hamburger "native of Hamburg." Also used of ships from Hamburg. From 1838 as a type of excellent black grape indigenous to Tyrolia; 1857 as a variety of hen.

The meat product was so called by 1880 (as hamburg steak); if it was named for the German city no certain connection has ever been put forth, and there may not be one unless it be that Hamburg was a major port of departure for German immigrants to United States. An 1809 account of life and manners in Iceland says meat smoked in the chimney there is referred to as Hamburg beef.

The meaning "a sandwich consisting of a bun and a patty of grilled hamburger meat" attested by 1909, short for hamburger sandwich (1902). Shortened form burger is attested from 1939; beefburger was attempted 1940, in an attempt to make the main ingredient more explicit, after the -burger had taken on a life of its own as a suffix (compare cheeseburger, attested by 1938).

Hamburg

German city, the -burg is German Burg "fort," in reference to the moated castle built there c. 825; the first element is perhaps Old High German hamma "ham, back of the knee" in a transferred sense of "bend, angle," with reference to its position on a river bend promontory; or Middle High German hamme "enclosed area of pastureland."

Hamiltonian

1797, follower of (n.), or characteristic of (adj.), U.S. politician and statesman Alexander Hamilton (d. 1804).

Hamitic (adj.)

of or pertaining to the language group that includes ancient Egyptian, Berber, Galla, etc.; 1842, from Ham/Cham, name of the second son of Noah (Genesis ix.18-19), whose four sons were popularly believed to have populated Egypt and adjacent regions of Africa.

Hamite (n.)

1854, "a descendant of Biblical Ham" (see Hamitic), with -ite (1). Used in reference to Egyptian and other peoples of north and northeast Africa; but popularly, "a black African, a negro."

hamlet (n.)

early 14c., from Old French hamelet "small village," diminutive of hamel "village," itself a diminutive of ham "village," from Frankish *haim or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *haimaz "home" (from PIE root *tkei- "to settle, dwell, be home"); for ending, see -let. Especially a village without a church.

hammer (n.)

Old English hamor "hammer," from Proto-Germanic *hamaraz (source also of Old Saxon hamur, Middle Dutch, Dutch hamer, Old High German hamar, German Hammer). The Old Norse cognate hamarr meant "stone, crag" (it's common in English place names), and suggests an original sense of the Germanic words as "tool with a stone head," which would describe the first hammers. The Germanic words thus could be from a PIE *ka-mer-, with reversal of initial sounds, from PIE *akmen "stone, sharp stone used as a tool" (source also of Old Church Slavonic kamy, Russian kameni "stone"), from root *ak- "be sharp, rise (out) to a point, pierce."

As a part of a firearm, 1580s; as a part of a piano, 1774; as a small bone of the ear, 1610s. Figurative use of "aggressive and destructive foe" is late 14c., from similar use of French martel, Latin malleus. To go at it hammer and tongs "with great violence and vigor" (1708) is an image from blacksmithing (the tongs hold the metal and the hammer beats it). Hammer and sickle as an emblem of Soviet communism attested from 1921, symbolizing industrial and agricultural labor.

hammered (adj.)

1530s, past-participle adjective from hammer (v.). As a slang synonym for "drunk," attested by 1986.

hammer (v.)

late 14c., "deal blows with a hammer or axe;" mid-15c., "to produce (something) by blows with a hammer," from hammer (n.). Also sometimes in Middle English the verb to describe how Christ was crucified. Figurative meaning "work (something) out laboriously" recorded from 1580s. Meaning "beat or drive with or as if with a hammer" is from 1640s; that of "to defeat heavily" is from 1948. Old English had hamorian "to beat out, forge." Related: Hammered; hammering.

hammerhead (adj.)

also hammer-head, 1560s, "head of a hammer," from hammer (n.) + head (n.). From 1796 (American English) in reference to a kind of shark, so called for its broad, transverse head. The animal is referred to as hammer-headed shark from 1752 and hammer-fish from 1745. The older name for it was balance-fish; there was a full specimen and a head of another under that name in the Royal Society Museum by 1681:

Compare French requin marteau, Italian pesce martello, etc. The Greeks named it for the cross-bar of a yoke (zygon) and called it zygania. "According to Xenocrates, and to Philotinus ap. Galen vi. 727, it is tough and indigestible, but may be eaten pickled" [Thompson].

hammock (n.)

type of hanging bed, 1650s, alteration of hamack, hamaca (1550s), from Spanish hamaca, from Arawakan (Haiti) word apparently meaning "fish nets" (compare Yukuna hamaca, Taino amaca). The forms of the word in Dutch (hangmat) and German (Hangmatte) were altered by folk-etymology as if it meant "hang-mat."

Hammond

type of electric organ favored by 1960s rock bands, trademark name (1935), invented 1929 by U.S. inventor and clockmaker Laurens Hammond (1895-1973).

hamper (v.)

late 14c., hampren "surround, imprison, confine; pack in a container; impede in motion or progress," of uncertain origin; probably from hamper (n.1), unless it is somehow connected to Middle English hamelian "to maim." Related: Hampered; hampering.

hamper (n.2)

"things important for a ship but in the way at certain times" (Klein's definition), 1835, from hamper (n.) "a fetter, shackles," from French hamper "to impede." Hence top hamper, originally "upper masts, spars, rigging, etc. of a sailing ship."

hamper (n.1)

"large basket," early 14c., hampyre, probably a contraction of Anglo-French hanaper (Anglo-Latin hanepario), from Old French hanepier "case for holding a large goblet or cup;" in medical use "skull," also "helmet; armored leather cap," from hanap "goblet, chalice," from Frankish or some other Germanic source (cognates: Old Saxon hnapp "cup, bowl;" Old High German hnapf, German Napf, Old English hnæpp). The first -a- may be a French attempt to render Germanic hn- into an acceptable Romanic form. The English word also meant "the department of Chancery into which fees were paid for sealing and enrolling charters, etc." (15c.).

Hampshire

reduced from Old English Hamtunscir; named for the city of Southampton, which originally was simply Hamtun. Norman scribes mangled the county name to Hauntunescire, later Hantescire, hence the abbrev. Hants.

hamster (n.)

c. 1600, from German Hamster, from Middle High German hamastra "hamster," probably from Old Church Slavonic chomestoru "hamster" (the animal is native to southeastern Europe), which is perhaps a blend of Russian chomiak "hamster," and Lithuanian staras "ground squirrel." The older English name for it was German rat.

hamstring (v.)

1640s, "to disable, render useless," a figurative verbal extension from hamstring (n.) "tendon at the back of the knee." Cutting this would render a person or animal lame. The literal sense of the verb is attested from 1670s. Because it is a verb from a noun-noun compound, hamstrung as its past participle is technically incorrect.

An older term for the same thing was hough-sineuen (15c.), with hock (n.1) + sinew (n.), also a noun-noun compound.