Etymology

harrow

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Today it means: A device consisting of a heavy framework having several disks or teeth in a row, which is dragged across ploughed land to smooth or break up the soil, to remove weeds or cover seeds; a harrow plow. Full definition →

Middle English harwe ← Old English *hearwa ← Old Norse harfr
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harrow · noun, verb1

  1. Old English · inherited fromhergian
  2. Old Norse · derived fromharfr
  3. Old English · inherited from*hearwa
  4. Middle English · inherited fromharwe
  5. English todayharrow

From Middle English harwe, harow, from Old English *hearwa (perhaps ultimately cognate with harvest), or from Old Norse harfr/herfi; compare Danish harve (“harrow”), Dutch hark (“rake”). Akin to Latin carpere. According to the OED, the verb senses are partly derived from the noun sense, partly from a by-form of the verb harry, itself from Old English hergian.

harrow · interjection2

  1. Frankish · derived from*harot
  2. Old French · derived fromharo
  3. Middle English · inherited fromharrow
  4. English todayharrow

From Middle English harrow, harrowe, haro, from Old French haro, harou, harau, harol, from Frankish *harot, *hara (“here; hither”), from *hēr. Akin to Old Saxon herod, Old High German herot, Middle Dutch hare.

Harrow · proper noun3

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*harugaz
  2. Old English · inherited fromhearg“altar; grove, temple”
  3. English todayHarrow

From Old English hearg (“altar; grove, temple”), from Proto-Germanic *harugaz.

Harrow · proper noun4

From harrow.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishhergian all →

herry

Old Frenchharo all →

haro

Old Englishhearg all →

Harkness

Proto-Germanic*harugaz all →

hair

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.