haven

haven · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*kh₂pnós
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*habą“sea”
3. Proto-Germanic · derived from*habnō
4. Old Norse · derived fromhǫfn
5. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*habanu
6. Old English · inherited fromhæfen“haven; harbour; port”
7. Middle English · inherited fromhaven
8. English todayhaven

From Middle English haven, havene, from Old English hæfen (“haven; harbour; port”), either from Proto-West Germanic *habanu or Old Norse hǫfn, from Proto-Germanic *habnō, *habanō (compare Dutch haven, German Hafen, Norwegian/Danish havn, Swedish hamn, French havre), from Proto-Germanic *habą (“sea”) (compare Old English hæf, Middle Low German haf, Old Norse haf (“sea”), German Haff (“bay or lagoon behind a spit”), perhaps, in the sense of "heaving sea", etymologically identical with Old Norse haf (“heaving, lifting, uplift, elevation”), derived from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to lift, heave”)), or from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂pnós (compare Old Irish cúan (“harbor, recess, haven”)). Doublet of abra.

haven · verb²

1. Middle English · inherited fromhaven
2. English todayhaven

From Middle English haven; equivalent to have + -en (plural simple present ending).

Words from the same roots