Harley

H4A1R1L1E1Y4
US/ˈhɑɹli/

proper noun

A village and civil parish (served by Cressage, Harley and Sheinton Parish Council) in Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SJ5901).

CommonScrabble 12

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Hurley

  1. A village and civil parish (served by Cressage, Harley and Sheinton Parish Council) in Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SJ5901).
  2. A settlement in Wentworth parish, Rotherham borough, South Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SK3698).
  3. A township in Timiskaming District, north-east Ontario, Canada.
  4. A community in Burford, Brant County, Ontario.
  5. A habitational surname from Old English from the place names.
  6. A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
nounHarley (plural Harleys)

plural Harleys · alternative Hurley

  1. A Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

    I was blown away by how much the 800 looks like a Harley. My Harley riding friends always do a double take when they see a picture of it. I personally like the Harleyesque looks and have owned a Vulcan 1500.

    1995 April 6, Peter Harper, “Honda shadow vt1100 Ace”, in rec.motorcycles (Usenet)
    1 more example

    Some dealers also took advantage of heightened demand for Harleys to charge more, a move that may have done long-lasting harm. “Dealers were charging more than the suggested manufacturer price and it made Harley look greedy and jeopardized our brand that we spent a long time building,” Mr. Ziemer said.

    2009 March 22, Susanna Hamner, “Harley, You’re Not Getting Any Younger”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2020

Origin

  1. Old Englishhær“rock”
  2. EnglishHarley

From Old English hær (“rock”) or hara (“hare”) + lēah (“wood, clearing”). Equivalent to hare + -ley (“lea”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with Harley

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

Harley. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Harley

MLA

“Harley.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Harley. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Harley,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Harley.

Source: Harley on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.