SOURCE 01supportshistorical dictionary
Hate — definition, etymology, and first known use
Publishes one reconstruction.
Verb etymology: Germanic *hatōjan-- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
PERMANENT DISPUTE RECORD
ALL DISPUTES ↗CLAIM / COUNTERCLAIM / LIMITRECORD 366
DISPUTE
RECORD.
One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.
openprobable
Is the Germanic parent exactly *hatōjan-?
The inherited weak verb is secure, but scholarly notation varies. Merriam-Webster prints *hatōjan-; Orel prints *xatēnan ~ *xatōjanan and includes a second related *xatjanan formation.
WORD UNDER REVIEWDISPUTE 366
hatian
/ˈhɑ.ti.ɑn/ · Old English weak verb
An attested Old English verb for hating whose objects include persons, enemies, vices, and deeds. It continues a reconstructed Germanic weak verb commonly represented as *hatōjan-, but published reconstructions vary, its relationship to the noun base is derivational rather than direct word-to-word descent, and the proposed deeper Indo-European route remains semantically opaque.
01
DIRECT CLAIM EVIDENCE
2 SOURCES WITH A STANCE
A citation is not a vote. Each record says whether the work supports, challenges, contradicts, or contextualizes the position—and identifies the exact locus used.
SOURCE 02challengesetymological dictionary
A Handbook of Germanic Etymology — *xataz, *xatjanan, and *xatōjanan
Publishes a more differentiated reconstruction set.
p. 203, *xatjanan and *xatēnan ~ *xatōjanan- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Vladimir Orel
- YEAR
- 2003
- PUBLISHER
- Brill
02 / EDITORIAL STATE
THE QUESTION REMAINS OPEN.
- CONFIDENCE
- probable
- STATUS
- open
- LEGACY SOURCE SUMMARY
- Two etymological sources agree on the family while differing in reconstruction detail.
The reviewed evidence does not yet warrant collapsing the competing or incomplete analyses into one secure answer.