haw

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See also: Haw, Haw., hAw, and HAw

Translingual

Symbol

haw

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Hawaiian.

See also

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English ha (interjection). Compare Old Norse (interjection), Middle Low German ha, (interjection), Old High German aha, hei (interjection).

Interjection

haw

  1. An imitation of laughter, often used to express scorn or disbelief. Often doubled or tripled (haw haw or haw haw haw).
    You think that song was good? Haw!
    • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, published 1959, →OCLC:
      The bitter laugh laughs at that which is not good, it is the ethical laugh. The hollow laugh laughs at that which is not true, it is the intellectual laugh. Not good! Not true! Well well. But the mirthless laugh is the dianoetic laugh, down the snout — Haw! — so.
  2. An intermission or hesitation of speech, with a sound somewhat like "haw"; the sound so made.
Usage notes
  • (an imitation of laughter): In the US, haw is rare (it was more used in the past), with ha being more common.
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

haw (third-person singular simple present haws, present participle hawing, simple past and past participle hawed)

  1. To stop, in speaking, with a sound like haw; to speak with interruption and hesitation.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle English hawe, from Old English haga (enclosure, hedge), from Proto-Germanic *hagô (compare West Frisian haach, Dutch haag, German Hag (hedged farmland), Norwegian Bokmål hage (garden)), from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰom (compare Welsh cae (field), Latin caulae (sheepfold, enclosure), cohum (strap between plowbeam and yoke), Russian кош (koš, tent), коша́ра (košára, sheepfold), Sanskrit कक्ष (kakṣa, curtain wall)), from *kagʰ- 'to catch, grasp' (compare Welsh cau (to clasp), Oscan kahad (may he seize).

Noun

haw (plural haws)

  1. Fruit of the hawthorn.
    Synonym: hawthorn berry
  2. (historical) A hedge.
  3. (obsolete) Something that has little value or importance; a whit or jot.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

Assumed to be interjectory, but compare Old English hawian (to observe, look)[1]

Interjection

haw

  1. An instruction for a horse or other animal to turn towards the driver, typically left.
    Coordinate term: gee
Translations

Verb

haw (third-person singular simple present haws, present participle hawing, simple past and past participle hawed)

  1. (of an animal) To turn towards the driver, typically to the left.
    Antonym: gee
    This horse won't haw when I tell him to.
  2. To cause (an animal) to turn left.
    Antonym: gee
    You may have to go to the front of the pack and physically haw the lead dog.
Derived terms

References

  1. ^
    1889–91, “haw”, in William Dwight Whitney, editor, The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language , volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC:

Etymology 4

Late Middle English (denoting a discharge from the eye), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Etymology 2 above, describing a berry.[1]

Noun

haw (countable and uncountable, plural haws)

  1. (countable, anatomy) The third eyelid, or nictitating membrane.
  2. (uncountable) A disease of the nictitating membrane.

References

  1. ^
    1889–91, “haw”, in William Dwight Whitney, editor, The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language , volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC:

Anagrams

Jingpho

Etymology

Borrowed from Burmese ဟော (hau:).

Verb

haw

  1. to preach

References

  • Kurabe, Keita (2016 December 31) “Phonology of Burmese loanwords in Jinghpaw”, in Kyoto University Linguistic Research, volume 35, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 91–128

Kalasha

Etymology

From Sanskrit हल (hala), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰh₁ol-. Cognate with Lithuanian žúolis.

Noun

haw

  1. plough

Maltese

Pronunciation

Adverb

haw

  1. Alternative form of hawn: here

Middle English

Noun

haw

  1. Alternative form of hawe

Polish

Alternative forms

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Adverb

haw (not comparable)

  1. (Żywiec) Synonym of tutaj

Further reading

  • Izydor Kopernicki (1875) “haw”, in Rozprawy i Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Wydziału Filologicznego Akademii Umiejętności (I), volume 3, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page 371
  • Leon Rzeszowski (1891) “haw”, in “Spis wyrazów ludowych z okolic Żywca”, in Sprawozdania Komisyi Językowej Akademii Umiejętności, volume 4, Krakow: Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, page 356

Scanian

Etymology

From Old Norse haf, from Proto-Germanic *habą.

Pronunciation

Noun

haw n (definite singular haweð, plural haw)

  1. sea

Derived terms

Tagalog

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Interjection

haw (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜏ᜔) (now dialectal, Rizal, sarcastic, colloquial)

  1. an expression of disbelief
    Synonym: sus
    Nakabangga daw si Nel kanina? Haw, mangungutang naman laang siya.
    Nel said he hit someone with his vehicle? Oh please, he'll just ask for money.

Further reading

Zhuang

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Borrowed from Chinese ?”

Noun

haw (Sawndip forms 𰁴 or 𫣞 or ⿰土黑, 1957–1982 spelling həɯ)

  1. fair; market

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Chinese (MC xjo).

Adjective

haw (1957–1982 spelling həɯ)

  1. weak; feeble