hardy

hardy · adjective, noun¹

1. Frankish · derived from*hardijan
2. Old French · derived fromhardi“hardy, daring, stout, bold”
3. Middle English · inherited fromhardy
4. English todayhardy

From Middle English hardy, hardi, from Old French hardi (“hardy, daring, stout, bold”). Old French hardi is usually regarded as the past participle of hardir ("to harden, be bold, make bold"; compare Occitan ardir, Italian ardire), from Frankish *hardijan; but it may also have come directly from Frankish *hardi, a secondary form of Frankish *hard (compare Old High German harti, herti, secondary forms of Old High German hart (“hard”)); or even yet from Frankish *hardig (compare Middle Low German herdich (“persevering”), Old Danish hærdig, Norwegian herdig, Swedish härdig (“vigorous, courageous”)). Cognate with hard. May have at some point also been surface analysed as hard + -y.

Hardy · proper noun²

1. Old English · inherited from*Hearda
2. English todayHardy

From Old English *Hearda + īeġ (“island, dry land in a marsh”).

Hardy · proper noun³

1. Old French · derived fromhardi“hardy, daring, stout, bold”
2. Middle English · derived fromhardy
3. English todayHardy

* As an English, Scottish, and French surname, from Middle English hardy, hardi, from Old French hardi (“hardy, daring, stout, bold”). * As an Irish surname, via mac giolla deacair (“son of the hard lad”) as a calque of the above. * Also as a Scottish surname, variant of Hardie.

Words from the same roots