haven

H4A1V4E1N1
/ˈheɪvən/

noun

A harbour or anchorage protected from the sea.

CommonScrabble 11

Meanings

haven1

nounhaven (plural havens)

plural havens

  1. datedliteralA harbour or anchorage protected from the sea.

    And the stately ships go on / To their haven under the hill;

    1842, Alfred Tennyson, “"Break, break, break,"”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 229
  2. A safe place.

    Since its conception, the European Union has been a haven for those seeking refuge from war, persecution and poverty in other parts of the world.

    2011 December 21, Helen Pidd, “Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 08 Mar 2021

    Synonyms: refuge, sanctuary, zoar

  3. A peaceful or tranquil place.
  4. graph theoryA certain type of function on sets of vertices in an undirected graph, able to be used by an evader to win a pursuit-evasion game on the graph.
verbhaven (third-person singular simple present havens, present participle havening, simple past and past participle havened)

present singular third person havens · participle present havening · participle past havened · past havened

  1. To put into, or provide with a haven.

haven2

verb
  1. obsoletepluralpresentplural simple present of have

    The craftie Badger, the Watry Otter / Whome Howndes purſue, till they hauen got her / Theſe Beaſtes been of higheſt Regard and Price / To pleaſure Princes and to murder vice.

    1606, N[athaniel] B[axter], Sir Philip Sydneys Ouránia, That Is, Endimions Song and Tragedie, Containing All Philosophie, London: […] Ed. Allde, for Edward White, […], →OCLC, signature G, recto
    2 more examples

    And they that occupye them bene in moche ſauegarde, and hauen greate conſolacyon, and bene the readyer vnto all goodnes, the ſlower to all euyll, and yf they haue done any thing amyſe, anone euen by the ſyght of the bookes theyꝛ conſciences bene admoniſhed, and they waxen ſoꝛy ⁊ aſhamed of the facte.

    1540, Thomas [Cranmer], “A Prologue or Preface […]”, in The Byble in Englyshe, […] (Great Bible), [2nd edition], [London]: […] Edward whytchurche, signature [i], verso

    For Lord, what charity hauen such men of religion, that knowen how they mowen against and sinne, and fleen awat from their brethren that bene more vncunning then they ben, and suffren thē to trauelen in the world withouten their councel as beastes?

    1570, John Foxe, Actes and Monuments, page 517

Haven3

proper noun
  1. A unisex given name of modern usage.
  2. A place in the United States:
    1. A township in Sherburne County, Minnesota, named after John Ormsbee Haven.
  3. A town in the Rural City of Horsham, Victoria, Australia.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA safe place.

More synonyms by meaning

nouna shelter serving as a place of safety or sanctuary

Similar
Broader

nouna sheltered port where ships can take on or discharge cargo

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

haven · noun, verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kh₂pnós
  2. Proto-Germanic*habą“sea”
  3. Proto-Germanic*habnō
  4. Old Norsehǫfn
  5. Proto-West Germanic*habanu
  6. Old Englishhæfen“haven; harbour; port”
  7. Middle Englishhaven
  8. Englishhaven

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.

Full word history & related roots →

haven · verb

  1. Middle Englishhaven
  2. Englishhaven

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

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek λιμήν
  • λιμήν (limḗn)harbour
Arabic مِينَاء, مَرْفَأ
  • مِينَاء (mīnāʔ)harbour
  • مَرْفَأ (marfaʔ)harbour
  • مَلَاذ (malāḏ)refuge
  • مَلْجَأ (maljaʔ)refuge
Bulgarian малко пристанище, убежище
  • малко пристанище (malko pristanište)harbour
  • убежище (ubežište)refuge
  • приютявам (prijutjavam)to put into, or provide with a haven
Catalan port, refugi
  • portharbour
  • refugirefuge
Chinese Mandarin 避風港 /避风港, 海港
  • 避風港 /避风港 (bìfēnggǎng)harbour
  • 海港 (hǎigǎng)harbour
  • 避難所 /避难所 (bìnànsuǒ)refuge
Danish havn, tilflugtssted
  • havnharbour
  • tilflugtsstedrefuge
  • refugiumrefuge
  • fristedrefuge
Dutch haven, vrijhaven
  • havenharbour
  • vrijhavenrefuge
  • toevluchtsoordrefuge
Finnish suojasatama, valkama
  • suojasatamaharbour
  • valkamaharbour
  • turvapaikkarefuge
  • tyyssijaa peaceful place
  • suojellato put into, or provide with a haven
  • tarjota suojapaikkato put into, or provide with a haven
French port, havre
  • portharbour
  • havreharbour
  • asilerefuge
  • refugerefuge
  • abrirefuge
  • havrerefuge
  • havrea peaceful place
  • havre de paixa peaceful place
German Hafen, Zufluchtsort
  • Hafenharbour
  • Zufluchtsortrefuge
  • Rückzugsortrefuge
Greek λιμάνι, καταφύγιο
  • λιμάνι (limáni)harbour
  • καταφύγιο (katafýgio)refuge
Hebrew נמל
  • נמל (namél)harbour
Hungarian kikötő, rév
  • kikötőharbour
  • révharbour
  • révrefuge
  • menedékrefuge
  • menedéka peaceful place
Italian porto
  • portoharbour
Japanese 港, 海港
  • 港 (minato)harbour
  • 海港 (kaikō)harbour
  • 避難所 (hinanjo)refuge
Korean 항구, 해항
  • 항구 (hanggu)harbour
  • 해항 (haehang)harbour
  • 피난처 (pinancheo)refuge
Māori whanga, piringa
  • whangaharbour
  • piringarefuge
  • punangarefuge
  • tuohungarefuge
  • whakamaurutangarefuge
  • āhuru mōwairefuge
  • nukuaoa peaceful place
  • āhuru mōwaia peaceful place
Polish port, przystań
  • portharbour
  • przystańrefuge
Portuguese porto, refúgio
  • portoharbour
  • refúgiorefuge
  • santuárioa peaceful place
Punjabi ਪਨਾਹਗਾਹ
  • ਪਨਾਹਗਾਹ (panāhgāh)refuge
Russian га́вань, порт
  • га́вань (gávanʹ)harbour
  • порт (port)harbour
  • убе́жище (ubéžišče)refuge
  • укры́тие (ukrýtije)refuge
  • прибе́жище (pribéžišče)refuge
  • приста́нище (pristánišče)refuge
  • прию́т (prijút)refuge
Spanish puerto, asilo
  • puertoharbour
  • asilorefuge
  • refugiorefuge
Swedish hamn, fristad
  • hamnharbour
  • fristadrefuge
  • tillflyktsortrefuge
Yiddish פּאָרט, האַוון
  • פּאָרט (port)harbour
  • האַוון (havn)harbour

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with haven

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

haven. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haven

MLA

“haven.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haven. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “haven,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haven.

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