hardy
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hardy¹
- /ˈhɑɹdi/ US
- /ˈhɑːdi/ UK
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)di
Where it comes from
From Middle English hardy, hardi, from Old French hardi (“hardy, daring, stout, bold”).
Old French hardi is usually regarded as the past participle of hardir ("to harden, be bold, make bold"; compare Occitan ardir, Italian ardire), from Frankish *hardijan; but it may also have come directly from Frankish *hardi, a secondary form of Frankish *hard (compare Old High German harti, herti, secondary forms of Old High German hart (“hard”)); or even yet from Frankish *hardig (compare Middle Low German herdich (“persevering”), Old Danish hærdig, Norwegian herdig, Swedish härdig (“vigorous, courageous”)).
Cognate with hard. May have at some point also been surface analysed as hard + -y.
adjective hardier · hardiest
- Having rugged physical strength; inured to fatigue or hardships. It is an useful sort of the smaller kind of hogs, that is hardy in its nature and of considerable weight in proportion to its size.
- Able to survive adverse growing conditions, especially frost. A hardy plant is one that can withstand the extremes of climate, such as frost.
- Brave and resolute. But he was not ſo hardy to abide That bitter ſtownd, but turning quicke aſide His light-foot beaſt, fled faſt away for feare:
- Impudent.
noun hardies
- Anything, especially a plant, that is hardy. Across the country, various bands of journalistic hardies — newsroom pros whose services are no longer salient to a crippled and disrupted information economy — have taken matters into their own hands.
- A blacksmith's fuller or chisel, having a square shank for insertion into a square hole in an anvil.
- A hardy hole.
Hardy²
- /ˈhɑːdi/ UK
- /ˈhɑɹdi/ US
Rhymes with -iː
Where it comes from
From Old English *Hearda + īeġ (“island, dry land in a marsh”).
proper noun
- A former town in Manchester, England, now absorbed into Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
Hardy³
- /ˈhɑːdi/ UK
- /ˈhɑɹdi/ US
Rhymes with -iː
Where it comes from
* As an English, Scottish, and French surname, from Middle English hardy, hardi, from Old French hardi (“hardy, daring, stout, bold”).
* As an Irish surname, via mac giolla deacair (“son of the hard lad”) as a calque of the above.
* Also as a Scottish surname, variant of Hardie.
proper noun Hardies · Hardys
- A common surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for a hardy person. Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), English novelist and poet.
- A male given name transferred from the surname.
- A minor city in Sharp County and Fulton County, Arkansas.
- An unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California.
- A minor city in Humboldt County, Iowa.
- An unincorporated community and coal town in Pike County, Kentucky.
- An unincorporated community in Grenada County, Mississippi.
- A census-designated place in Cascade County, Montana.
- A village in Nuckolls County, Nebraska.
- A township in Holmes County, Ohio.
- An unincorporated community in Franklin County, Virginia.
- A township in Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada.
- A hamlet in Rural Municipality of The Gap No. 39, Saskatchewan, Canada.
- A locality east of Peterborough, South Australia.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: sturdy, robust, stalwart, doughty, stout, rugged, fearless, manful, manly, manlike, brave, intrepid, courageous, valiant, strong, gallant
Translations
Every language
adj inured to fatigue or hardships
| Español | robusto, resistente |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 頑丈な ganjō na, 頑強な gankyō na |
| 中文 | 頑強 /顽强 wánqiáng, 耐寒 nàihán |
| Português | resistente |
| Français | robuste, rustique |
| Deutsch | abgehärtet, widerstandsfähig |
| Italiano | resistente, robusto |
| Русский | выно́сливый vynóslivyj, сто́йкий stójkij, морозоусто́йчивый morozoustójčivyj, закалённый zakaljónnyj |
adj botany, able to survive adverse growing conditions
| Deutsch | widerstandsfähig, winterfest (winterhardy) |
|---|
Talk about this word "hardy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hardy. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026. hardy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hardy "hardy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 5, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hardy.Cite this
@misc{hardy_2026,
title = {hardy},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hardy},
urldate = {2026-11-05}
}
