hard

hard · adjective, adverb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*kort-ús
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*harduz
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hard(ī)
4. Old English · inherited fromheard
5. Middle English · inherited fromhard
6. English todayhard

From Middle English hard, from Old English heard, from Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī), from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kort-ús, from *kret- (“strong, powerful”). Cognates Cognate with Yola hard (“hard”), West Frisian hurd (“hard”), Alemannic German hert (“hard”), Bavarian hoat (“hard”), Central Franconian haat (“hard”), Dutch hard (“hard”), German hart (“hard”), Luxembourgish haart (“hard”), Danish and Swedish hård (“hard”), Faroese and Icelandic harður (“hard”), Norwegian Bokmål hard (“hard”), Norwegian Nynorsk hard, hard’u (“hard”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌿𐍃 (hardus, “hard”), Ancient Greek κρατύς (kratús, “strong, mighty”), Sanskrit क्रतु (krátu, “power, might, ability”), Avestan 𐬑𐬭𐬀𐬙𐬎 (xratu).

hard · verb²

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hardijaną
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hardēn
3. Old English · inherited fromheardian“to become hard”
4. Middle English · inherited fromharden
5. English todayhard

From Middle English harden, herden, from Old English heardian (“to become hard”) and hierdan (“to make hard”), from Proto-West Germanic *hardēn and *hardijan, from Proto-Germanic *hardijaną. Cognates Cognate with Dutch harden (“to harden”), German härten (“to harden”), Danish hærde (“to harden; to temper”), Icelandic herða (“to harden”), Norwegian Bokmål herde (“to harden; to toughen”), Norwegian Nynorsk herda (“to make hard, temper; harden”), Swedish härda (“harden, temper”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gahardjan), *𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (*hardjan, “to harden”).

Hard · proper noun³

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*harduz
2. Old French · derived fromhardi“tough, brave, hardy”
3. English todayHard

* From Old English and Norman derivatives of Old French hardi (“tough, brave, hardy”). There are several Germanic variants of this origin, such as Swedish hård, Dutch hard, etc., all from Proto-Germanic *harduz. * English topographical surname for farmers living on hard ground, from hard. This also appeared as the surname Hardacre.

Words from the same roots