harvest
/ˈhɑːrvəst/
noun / verb
Origin
Proto-Germanic
*harƀistaz — harvest; autumn; time of gathering crops
Overview
Meaning Now
- The gathering of ripe crops from the fields.
- The season or time when crops are gathered.
- To gather ripe crops from the fields; to reap or collect.
Literal older meaning
“the gathering of crops”
Language path
Proto-Germanic → Old English → Middle English → English
Earliest form
hærfest
Earliest period
Old English (9th century)
Journey
In early Germanic and Old English, the word referred not only to the act of bringing in crops but also to the season itself, especially autumn. English later generalized the noun and created the verb meaning by conversion, a common pattern in the language.
Evolution
- Proto-Germanic
*harƀistaz
“harvest; autumn; time of gathering crops”
Reconstructed ancestral form for the Germanic languages.
- Old English
hærfest
“harvest; autumn”
The word denoted both the crop-gathering season and, by extension, autumn.
- Middle English
harvest
“harvest; the act or season of gathering crops”
Spelling and pronunciation modernized over time.
- Modern English
harvest
“the gathering of crops; later also to gather or collect more generally”
Verb use developed from the noun.
Connections
Word parts
harvest
stem
gathering of crops; autumn
Related across languages
German
Herbst
autumn
Dutch
herfst
autumn
Swedish
höst
autumn
Explore next
Related to harvest
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.