hail from

verb

To be a native of, to come from, to originate from; to have as one's birth place or residence.

“My niece speaks French but she hails from Hampshire.”

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Meanings

verbhail from (third-person singular simple present hails from, present participle hailing from, simple past and past participle hailed from)

present singular third person hails from · participle present hailing from · participle past hailed from · past hailed from

  1. To be a native of, to come from, to originate from; to have as one's birth place or residence.

    My niece speaks French but she hails from Hampshire.

    1 more example

    1998, August 23; the episode Lard of the Dance (wikiquote) from the tenth season [Willie] Saints be praised. I'm from Scotland! Where do ya hail from? [Homer] Uh, North... Kilt-town.

Origin

Ships would declare, by hailing, the port from which they sailed or in which they were registered.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech pocházet
  • pocházetto be a native of
Dutch afkomstig zijn van, afstammen van
  • afkomstig zijn vanto be a native of
  • afstammen vanto be a native of
Finnish olla kotoisin
  • olla kotoisinto be a native of
French venir de, être originaire de
  • venir deto be a native of
  • être originaire deto be a native of
Greek κατάγομαι
  • κατάγομαι (katágomai)to be a native of
Icelandic vera frá, koma frá
  • vera fráto be a native of
  • koma fráto be a native of
Italian venire, essere originario
  • venireto be a native of
  • essere originarioto be a native of
Portuguese vir de
  • vir deto be a native of
Russian происходи́ть, произойти́
  • происходи́ть (proisxodítʹ)to be a native of
  • произойти́ (proizojtí)to be a native of
Spanish ser oriundo de, proceder / provenir de
  • ser oriundo deto be a native of
  • proceder / provenir deto be a native of
Swedish bördig
  • bördigto be a native of
Cite this entry
APA

hail from. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hail%20from

MLA

“hail from.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hail%20from. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hail from,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hail%20from.

Source: hail from on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.