Etymograph

English

hairen

Hairen comes from Old English hǣren ‘made of hair’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *hērą.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hērą‘hair’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hār‘hair’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*hārīn‘made of hair, hairen’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hǣren‘made of hair’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500heeren
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1678hairen

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hērą‘hair’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hār‘hair’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*hārīn‘made of hair, hairen’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hǣren‘made of hair’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500heeren
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1678hairen

Earliest quotation: 1678, Antiquitates Christianæ: Or, London: […] E. Flesher: “His hairen shirt and his ascetic diet.”

Formed from hair + -en ‘made of’

Proto-Germanic *hērą

Proto-West Germanic *hār

Old English hǣr

Middle English her ‘a hair’

English hair

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kes- ‘to scrape, comb’

xylem, xylitol, hards, 7 more

through Proto-West Germanic *hār ‘hair’

herring, hairy, 1 more

Today it means

adj Consisting or made of hair

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *hērą / hairen

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