hoar frost
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
hoar frost
- /ˈhɔː fɹɒst/ UK
- /ˈhoɹ ˌfɹɑst/ US
Where it comes from
PIE word
*prustós
From Middle English hore frost, horfrost [and other forms], from hor (“grey; greyish-white”, adjective) (from Old English hār (“grey”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- (“darkness; shadow”)) + frost (“cold spell, freezing weather, frost; hoar-frost; rime”) (from Old English frost, forst, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *prustós (“frost”)). The English word is analysable as hoar (“greyish-white; white”, adjective) + frost.
noun hoar frosts · hoarfrost · hoar-frost
-
Originally, any frozen dew forming a white deposit on exposed surfaces.
He [the Lord] geueth ſnowe like woll, & ſcatereth yͤ horefroſt like aſhes.
Similar: white frost
- Water vapour which has undergone deposition or desublimation (“transformation directly into ice crystals without first turning into liquid water”) when the air is cold and moist to form a white deposit on exposed surfaces. On Sunday night, January 23, ſeveral things vvere laid out at the Obſervatory, ſuch as ſheets of brovvn paper, pieces of boards, plates of metal, glaſſes of ſeveral kinds, &c. vvhich all began to contract hoar-froſt ſeemingly as ſoon as each body had time to cool dovvn to the temperature of the air.
Translations
Every language
noun any frozen dew forming a white deposit on exposed surfaces; water vapour which has undergone deposition or desublimation (“transformation directly into ice crys
| Español | escarcha, helada blanca, cencellada |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 흰 서리 huin seori |
| 日本語 | 霜 shimo |
| 中文 | 霜 shuāng |
| हिन्दी | तुषार tuṣār |
| Português | geada, escarcha |
| Français | gelée blanche, givre |
| Deutsch | Raureif |
| Italiano | brina, calaverna |
| Ελληνικά | πάχνη páchni |
| Română | chiciură, promoroacă, brumă |
| Русский | и́зморозь ízmorozʹ, и́ней ínej |
| Tiếng Việt | sương muối |
| العربية | صَقِيع ṣaqīʕ |
| עברית | כְּפוֹר kfor |
Talk about this word "hoar frost." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hoar%20frost. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. hoar frost. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hoar%20frost "hoar frost." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hoar%20frost.Cite this
@misc{hoar_frost_2026,
title = {hoar frost},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hoar%20frost},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
