hound

hound · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱwṓ
2. Proto-Germanic*hundaz
3. Proto-West Germanic*hund
4. Old Englishhund
5. Middle Englishhound
6. English todayhound

Inherited from Middle English hound, from Old English hund, from Proto-West Germanic *hund, from Proto-Germanic *hundaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ. Doublet of canine. Cognate with Dutch hond (“dog”), German Hund (“dog”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish hund (“dog”), Faroese and Icelandic hundur (“dog”). In 14th-century England, hound was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog (much as the distinction between Hund and Dogge in contemporary German). By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting.

hound · verb²

1. Middle English · inherited fromhounden
2. English todayhound

From Middle English hounden, from the noun (see above).

hound · noun³

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hūnaz
2. Old Norse · derived fromhúnn
3. Middle English · inherited fromhownde
4. English todayhound

From Middle English hownde, hount, houn, probably from Old Norse húnn, from Proto-Germanic *hūnaz.

Words from the same roots