harbor

English Online Dictionary. What means harbor‎? What does harbor mean?

English

Alternative forms

• harbour (Commonwealth)
• harborough, herborough, harborow (all obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑɹbəɹ/
• (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”). Doublet of harbinger. See also here, harry, borrow and bury.

Noun

harbor (countable and uncountable, plural harbors) (American spelling)

1. (countable) Any place of shelter.

2. (countable, nautical) A sheltered expanse of water, adjacent to land, in which ships may anchor or dock, especially for loading and unloading.
3. (countable, glassworking) A mixing box for materials.
4. (obsolete, countable) A house of the zodiac, or the mansion of a heavenly body.
5. (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)

1. (transitive) To provide a harbor or safe place for.
2. (intransitive) To take refuge or shelter in a protected expanse of water.

3. (transitive) To drive (a hunted stag) to covert.
4. (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

1. (slang) to appropriate another person's property

Noun

harbor

1. (slang) appropriation; an act or instance of appropriating

Derived terms

• harbor

Descendants

• Cebuano: harbat