Etymology

hiss

H4I1S1S1

Today it means: A sibilant sound, such as that made by a snake or escaping steam; an unvoiced fricative. Full definition →

Middle English hissen
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromhissen
  2. English todayhiss

From Middle English hissen, probably of onomatopoeic origin (compare Arabic هَسْهَسَ (hashasa)). Compare Middle Dutch hissen, hisschen (“to chase away, shoo”), Middle Low German hissen (“to chase, hound, incite”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.