English Online Dictionary. What means harbor? What does harbor mean?
English
Alternative forms
- harbour (Commonwealth)
- harborough, herborough, harborow (obsolete)
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhɑɹbɚ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhɑːbə/
- Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)bə(ɹ)
Etymology 1
From Middle English herberwe, herber, from Old English herebeorg (“shelter, lodgings, quarters”), from Proto-West Germanic *harjabergu (“army shelter, refuge”), from *harjaz (“army”) + *bergō (“protection”), equivalent to Old English here (“army, host”) + beorg (“defense, protection, refuge”).
See also West Frisian herberch (“inn”), Dutch herberg (“inn”), German Herberge; also Old Norse herbergi (“a harbour; a room”) (whence Icelandic herbergi), Dutch herberg, German Herberge (“inn, hostel, shelter”), Swedish härbärge. Compare also French auberge (“hostel”). More at here, harry, borrow and bury. Doublet of harbinger.
Noun
harbor (countable and uncountable, plural harbors) (American spelling)
- (countable) Any place of shelter.
- (countable, nautical) A sheltered expanse of water, adjacent to land, in which ships may anchor or dock, especially for loading and unloading.
- (countable, glassworking) A mixing box for materials.
- (obsolete, countable) A house of the zodiac, or the mansion of a heavenly body.
- (obsolete, uncountable) Shelter, refuge.
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Cebuano: harbor
- → Marshallese: aba
- → Welsh: harbwr
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English herberwen, herbere, from Old English herebeorgian (“to take up one's quarters, lodge”), from the noun (see above).
Verb
harbor (third-person singular simple present harbors, present participle harboring, simple past and past participle harbored) (American spelling)
- (transitive) To provide a harbor or safe place for.
- (intransitive) To take refuge or shelter in a protected expanse of water.
- (transitive) To drive (a hunted stag) to covert.
- (transitive) To hold or persistently entertain in one's thoughts or mind.
Derived terms
- harborer
Translations
See also
- haven
- dock
References
- “harbor”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “harbor”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- “harbor”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.
Cebuano
Etymology
From English harbor, from Middle English herberwen, herberȝen, from Middle English herebeorgian (“to take up one's quarters, lodge”).
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: har‧bor
Verb
harbor
- (slang) to appropriate another person's property
Noun
harbor
- (slang) appropriation; an act or instance of appropriating
Derived terms
- harbor
Descendants
- Cebuano: harbat