Hound
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
hound¹
- /haʊnd/
Rhymes with -aʊnd
Where it comes from
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓder.
Proto-Germanic *hundaz
Proto-West Germanic *hund
Old English hund
Middle English hound
English hound
Inherited from Middle English hound, from Old English hund, from Proto-West Germanic *hund, from Proto-Germanic *hundaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ. Doublet of canine.
Cognate with Dutch hond (“dog”), German Hund (“dog”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish hund (“dog”), Faroese and Icelandic hundur (“dog”).
In 14th-century England, hound was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog (much as the distinction between Hund and Dogge in contemporary German). By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting.
noun hounds
- A dog, particularly a breed with a good sense of smell developed for hunting other animals. The hounds were baying a fox.
- Any canine animal.
- Someone who seeks something. On the way out of the building I was asked for my autograph. If I'd known who the signature hound thought I was, I would've signed appropriately.
- A male who constantly seeks the company of desirable women. "She had a good many successors, John." "You are such a hound, in that respect, Goodson," said Claywell, "and you have always been such a hound, that it astounds me to find you—unaccompanied."
- A despicable person. Boy! false hound!
- A houndfish.
hound²
- /haʊnd/
Rhymes with -aʊnd
Where it comes from
From Middle English hounden, from the noun (see above).
verb hounds · hounding · hounded
- To persistently harass doggedly. He hounded me for weeks, but I was simply unable to pay back his loan.
- To urge on against; to set (dogs) upon in hunting. We both thought we saw what had the appearance to be a fox, and hounded the dogs at it, but they would not pursue it.
hound³
- /haʊnd/
Rhymes with -aʊnd
Where it comes from
From Middle English hownde, hount, houn, probably from Old Norse húnn, from Proto-Germanic *hūnaz.
noun hounds · hune
- Projections located at the masthead or foremast, serving as a support for the trestletrees and top on which to rest; a foretop.
- A side bar used to strengthen portions of the running gear of a vehicle.
Hound⁴
proper noun
- A small village and civil parish in Eastleigh borough, Hampshire, England (OS grid ref SU4708).
