hare
UK /hɛə/ · US /hɛɚ/ noun, verb, adjective, proper noun
Forms hares haring hared harr hoar
- noun (countable) Any of several plant-eating mammals of the genus Lepus, similar to a rabbit, but larger and with longer ears.
- noun (uncountable) The meat from this animal.
- noun (countable) The player in a paperchase, or hare and hounds game, who leaves a trail of paper to be followed.
- verb (intransitive) To move swiftly.
- verb (obsolete) To excite; to tease, or worry; to harry.
- adjective (regional) Grey, hoary; grey-haired, venerable (of people). “a hare old man”
- adjective (regional) Cold, frosty (of weather). “a hare day”
- proper noun A surname transferred from the nickname.
- proper noun Synonym of Sahtú.
- proper noun A hamlet in Broadway parish, Somerset, England, previously in South Somerset district (OS grid ref ST2915).
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Williamson County, Texas, United States.
- proper noun A dialect of Slavey, an Athabaskan language.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English hare, from Old English hara (“hare”), from Proto-West Germanic *hasō ~ *haʀ-, from Proto-Germanic *hesô, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂s-én-; possibly related to or influenced by Proto-Germanic *haswaz (“grey”).
See also West Frisian hazze, Dutch haas, German Hase, Norwegian and Swedish hare, Icelandic heri), Old English hasu, Middle High German heswe (“pale, dull”); also Welsh cannu (“to whiten”), ceinach (“hare”), Latin cānus (“white”), cascus (“old”), Old Prussian sasnis (“hare”), Pashto سوی (soe, “hare”) and Sanskrit शश (śaśa, “hare”).
From Middle English harren, harien (“to drag by force, ill-treat”), of uncertain origin. Compare harry, harass.
From Middle English hore, from Old English hār (“hoar, hoary, grey, old”), from Proto-Germanic *hairaz (“grey”). Cognate with German hehr (“noble, sublime”).
* As an Irish surname, from ó hír (“descendant of Ír”), a personal name related to Old Irish sír (“long-lasting”).
* Also as an Irish surname, from ó Haichir (“descendant of Aichear”), from aichear (“sharp”).
* As an English surname, from the noun hare, originally as a nickname.
* Also as an English surname, from Ayre.
* Also as an English surname, from the obsolete Old English hær (“stone”).
* Also as an English surname, variant of Hair.
* As a French surname, from the verb harer (“to stir up, excite”), from Old French harier, from Frankish *hariōn, from Proto-Germanic *harjōną (“to devastate, lay waste”).
* As a German surname, variant of Harr.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To excite; to tease, or worry; to harry. [Obs.] Locke.
- noun A rodent of the genus Lepus, having long hind legs, a short tail, and a divided upper lip. It is a timid animal, moves swiftly by leaps, and is remarkable for its fecundity.
- noun A small constellation situated south of and under the foot of Orion; Lepus. Hare and hounds, a game played by men and boys, two, called hares, having a few minutes' start, and scattering bits of paper to indicate their course, being chased by the others, called the hounds, through a wide circuit.
Etymology [Cf. Harry, Harass.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “hare”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details