*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of have

Etymology tree substratebor.? Proto-Indo-European *kap-der. Proto-Germanic *habjaną Proto-West Germanic *habbjan Old English habban Middle English haven English have From Middle English haven, from Old English habban (“t

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
verb

To possess, own. · To hold, as something at someone's disposal. · To include as a part, ingredient, or feature. · Used to state the existence or presence of someone in a specified relationship with the subject.

noun

A wealthy or privileged person. · One who has some (contextually specified) thing.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree substratebor.? Proto-Indo-European *kap-der. Proto-Germanic *habjaną Proto-West Germanic *habbjan Old English habban Middle English haven English have From Middle English haven, from Old English habban (“to have”), from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to have”), durative of *habjaną (“to lift, take up”), from Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti, an imperfective formation to the root *kap- (“to take, seize, catch”). Related to heave. Since there is no common Indo-European root for a transitive possessive verb have (notice that Latin habeō is not etymologically related to English have), Proto-Indo-European probably lacked the have structure. Instead, the third person forms of be were used, with the possessor in dative case, compare Latin mihi est / sunt, literally to me is / are. The nonstandard etymology 1, verb sense 34 (“to be (an age)”) is a semantic loan from other languages’ term for “to possess, own”, such as French avoir, Polish mieć, and Spanish tener. Cognates Cognate with Scots hae (“to have”), North Frisian haa, heewe (“to have”), Saterland Frisian häbe, hääbe (“to have”), West Frisian hawwe (“to have”), Afrikaans hê (“to have”), Alemannic German haa, heen, hoh, hä, häbä, hè (“to have”), Bavarian hobm, hobn, hoom, håbn (“to have”), Cimbrian haban, hen, håm (“to have”), Dutch and Low German hebben (“to have”), German haben (“to have”), Limburgish haane, höbbe (“to have”), Luxembourgish hunn (“to have”), Mòcheno hom (“to have”), Vilamovian hon (“to have”), Yiddish האָבן (hobn, “to have”), Danish have (“to have”), Elfdalian åvå (“to have”), Faroese hava (“to have”), Icelandic hafa (“to have”), Norwegian Bokmål ha (“to have”), Norwegian Nynorsk ha, hava, have, hå (“to have”), Swedish ha, hafva, hava (“to have”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (haban, “to have”), Albanian kap (“to grab, catch, grip”), Latin capiō (“take”, verb), Russian хапать (xapatʹ, “to seize”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 30 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:haven<id:have>",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nsubstratebor.?\nProto-Indo-European *kap-der.\nProto-Germanic *habjaną\nProto-West Germanic *habbjan\nOld English habban\nMiddle English haven\nEnglish have\n[Appendix:Glossary#derived_terms|Derived]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"seize\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"lang_name\" : \"substrate\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"children\" : [ ], \"lang\" : \"qfa-sub\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*kap-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*habjaną\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*habbjan\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"habban\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"haven\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"have\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"have\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
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        "2": "ine-pro",
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      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "haven"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English haven"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "habban",
        "t": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English habban (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*habbjan"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *habbjan"
    },
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      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*habjaną",
        "t": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*kapyéti"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti"
    },
    {
      "name": "noncog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "habeō"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin habeō"
    },
    {
      "name": "senseno",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "to be an age",
        "t": "to be (an age)"
      },
      "expansion": "etymology 1, verb sense 34 (“to be (an age)”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "semantic loan"
      },
      "expansion": "semantic loan"
    },
    {
      "name": "m-g",
      "args": {
        "1": "to possess, own"
      },
      "expansion": "“to possess, own”"
    },
    {
      "name": "semantic loan",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "avoir",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "French avoir"
    },
    {
      "name": "semantic loan",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pl",
        "3": "mieć",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Polish mieć"
    },
    {
      "name": "semantic loan",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "es",
        "3": "tener",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Spanish tener"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cog"
      },
      "expansion": "Cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "hae",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots hae (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "frr",
        "2": "haa"
      },
      "expansion": "North Frisian haa"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "stq",
        "2": "häbe"
      },
      "expansion": "Saterland Frisian häbe"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "hawwe",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian hawwe (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "af",
        "2": "hê",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Afrikaans hê (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gsw",
        "2": "haa"
      },
      "expansion": "Alemannic German haa"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "bar",
        "2": "hobm"
      },
      "expansion": "Bavarian hobm"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cim",
        "2": "haban"
      },
      "expansion": "Cimbrian haban"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl,nds",
        "2": "hebben",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch and Low German hebben (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "haben",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "German haben (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "li",
        "2": "haane"
      },
      "expansion": "Limburgish haane"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lb",
        "2": "hunn",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Luxembourgish hunn (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "mhn",
        "2": "hom",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Mòcheno hom (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "wym",
        "2": "hon",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Vilamovian hon (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "yi",
        "2": "האָבן",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Yiddish האָבן (hobn, “to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "have",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish have (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ovd",
        "2": "åvå",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Elfdalian åvå (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo",
        "2": "hava",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese hava (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "hafa",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic hafa (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nb",
        "2": "ha",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål ha (“to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nn",
        "2": "ha"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk ha"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "ha"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish ha"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "got",
        "2": "𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to have"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (haban, “to have”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sq",
        "2": "kap",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to grab, catch, grip"
      },
      "expansion": "Albanian kap (“to grab, catch, grip”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "capiō",
        "3": "",
        "4": "take",
        "pos": "verb"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin capiō (“take”, verb)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ru",
        "2": "хапать",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to seize"
      },
      "expansion": "Russian хапать (xapatʹ, “to seize”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:haven<id:have>",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nsubstratebor.?\nProto-Indo-European *kap-der.\nProto-Germanic *habjaną\nProto-West Germanic *habbjan\nOld English habban\nMiddle English haven\nEnglish have"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*kap-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kap-#Proto-Indo-European:_seize"
    ],
    [
      "*habjaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/habjaną#Proto-Germanic:_have"
    ],
    [
      "*habbjan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/habbjan#Proto-West_Germanic:_have"
    ],
    [
      "habban",
      "habban#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "haven",
      "haven#Middle_English:_have"
    ],
    [
      "haven",
      "haven#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "habban",
      "habban#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*habbjan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/habbjan"
    ],
    [
      "*habjaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/habjaną"
    ],
    [
      "*habjaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/habjaną"
    ],
    [
      "*kapyéti",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kapyéti"
    ],
    [
      "*kap-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kap-#Proto-Indo-European:_seize"
    ],
    [
      "heave",
      "heave#English"
    ],
    [
      "habeō",
      "habeo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "be",
      "be"
    ],
    [
      "dative case",
      "dative case"
    ],
    [
      "avoir",
      "avoir#French"
    ],
    [
      "mieć",
      "mieć#Polish"
    ],
    [
      "tener",
      "tener#Spanish"
    ],
    [
      "hae",
      "hae#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "haa",
      "haa#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "heewe",
      "heewe#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "häbe",
      "häbe#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "hääbe",
      "hääbe#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "hawwe",
      "hawwe#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "hê",
      "hê#Afrikaans"
    ],
    [
      "haa",
      "haa#Alemannic_German"
    ],
    [
      "heen",
      "heen#Alemannic_German"
    ],
    [
      "hoh",
      "hoh#Alemannic_German"
    ],
    [
      "hä",
      "hä#Alemannic_German"
    ],
    [
      "häbä",
      "häbä#Alemannic_German"
    ],
    [
      "hè",
      "hè#Alemannic_German"
    ],
    [
      "hobm",
      "hobm#Bavarian"
    ],
    [
      "hobn",
      "hobn#Bavarian"
    ],
    [
      "hoom",
      "hoom#Bavarian"
    ],
    [
      "håbn",
      "håbn#Bavarian"
    ],
    [
      "haban",
      "haban#Cimbrian"
    ],
    [
      "hen",
      "hen#Cimbrian"
    ],
    [
      "håm",
      "håm#Cimbrian"
    ],
    [
      "Dutch",
      "hebben#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "hebben",
      "hebben#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "haben",
      "haben#German"
    ],
    [
      "haane",
      "haane#Limburgish"
    ],
    [
      "höbbe",
      "höbbe#Limburgish"
    ],
    [
      "hunn",
      "hunn#Luxembourgish"
    ],
    [
      "hom",
      "hom#Mòcheno"
    ],
    [
      "hon",
      "hon#Vilamovian"
    ],
    [
      "האָבן",
      "האָבן#Yiddish"
    ],
    [
      "have",
      "have#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "åvå",
      "åvå#Elfdalian"
    ],
    [
      "hava",
      "hava#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "hafa",
      "hafa#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "ha",
      "ha#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "ha",
      "ha#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "hava",
      "hava#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "have",
      "have#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "hå",
      "hå#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "ha",
      "ha#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "hafva",
      "hafva#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "hava",
      "hava#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽",
      "𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽#Gothic"
    ],
    [
      "kap",
      "kap#Albanian"
    ],
    [
      "capiō",
      "capio#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "хапать",
      "хапать#Russian"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To possess, own.",
        "To hold, as something at someone's disposal.",
        "To include as a part, ingredient, or feature.",
        "Used to state the existence or presence of someone in a specified relationship with the subject."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
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    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A wealthy or privileged person.",
        "One who has some (contextually specified) thing."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "contrastive",
        "idiomatic",
        "usually",
        "uncommon"
      ],
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

A fraud or deception; something misleading.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From have on (“to deceive”).

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [],
  "links": [
    [
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      "have on#English"
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  ],
  "references": [],
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  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A fraud or deception; something misleading."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "New-Zealand",
        "informal"
      ],
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}

Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗
noun

A hawthorn.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Variant of haw.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [],
  "links": [
    [
      "haw",
      "haw#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
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  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A hawthorn."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal"
      ],
      "recordId": "16637b311ab99067438e39cc9dbdfa38da2c2f5d8224509edcdb90aaf05f55e3",
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for have →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-aGF2ZQ