Etymology

haves

H4A1V4E1S1

Today it means: The wealthy or privileged, and those with power and possessions. Full definition →

Middle English heven ← Old English hebban ← Proto-West Germanic *habbjan
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*kh₂pyéti
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*habjaną“to take up, lift”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*habbjan
  4. Old English · inherited fromhebban
  5. Middle English · inherited fromheven
  6. English todayhaves

From have + -s, from Middle English heven, hebben, from Old English hebban, from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to take up, lift”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂pyéti, from the root *kap-. See have for details.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishheven all →

heave

Old Englishhebban all →

heave

Proto-West Germanic*habbjan all →

havehoverheave

Proto-Germanic*habjaną all →

havehavochoverheftheavehovenheddle

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.