Online Etymology Dictionary

hartebeest (n.): 1781, from Afrikaans, from Dutch hertebeest "antelope," from hert "hart" (see hart) + beest "beast, ox" (in South African Dutch "steer, cattle"), from Middle Dutch beeste, from Old French beste "beast" (see beast).
hartshorn (n.): "ammonium carbonate," Old English heortes hornes, from hart + horn (n.). So called because a main early source of ammonia was the antlers of harts.
harum-scarum (adv.): 1670s (harum-starum), probably a rhyming compound of obsolete hare (v.) "harry" + scare (v.), with 'um as a reduced form of them, the whole perhaps meant to be mock Latin. As an adjective from 1751; as a noun, "reckless person," from 1784.
haruspex (n.): 1580s, from Latin haruspex (plural haruspices) "soothsayer by means of entrails," first element from PIE *ghere- "gut, entrail" (see yarn); second element from Latin spic- "beholding, inspecting," from PIE *speks "he who sees," from root *spek- "to observe" (see scope (n.1)). The practice is Etruscan. Related: Haruspical; haruspication.
Harvard: U.S. college named for John Harvard (1607-1638), Puritan immigrant minister who bequeathed half his estate and 260 books to the yet-unorganized college that had been ordered by the Massachusetts colonial government. The surname is cognate with Hereward, Old English hereweard, literally "army guard."
harvest (n.): Old English hærfest "autumn," as one of the four seasons, "period between August and November," from Proto-Germanic *harbitas (source also of Old Saxon hervist, Old Frisian and Dutch herfst, German Herbst "autumn," Old Norse haust "harvest"), from PIE *kerp- "to gather, pluck, harvest" (source also of Sanskrit krpana- "sword," krpani "shears;" Greek karpos "fruit," karpizomai "make harvest of;" Latin carpere "to cut, divide, pluck;" Lithuanian kerpu "cut;" Middle Irish cerbaim "cut").

In Old English with only implied reference to the gathering of crops. The borrowing of autumn and the use of fall (n.) in a seasonal sense gradually focused the meaning of harvest to "the time of gathering crops" (mid-13c.), also to the action itself and the product of the action (after c. 1300), which became its main senses from 14c. Figurative use by 1530s. As an adjective from late 14c. Harvest home (1570s) was a festive celebration of the bringing home the last of the harvest; harvest moon (1704) is that which is full within a fortnight of the autumnal equinox.
harvest (v.): c. 1400, from harvest (n.). Of wild animals, by 1946; of cells, from 1946. Related: Harvested; harvesting.
harvester (n.): "a reaper," 1590s; agent noun from harvest (v.). Meaning "machine for reaping and binding field crops" is from 1847.
Harvey: masc. proper name introduced in England by Bretons at the Conquest; from Old French Hervé, Old Breton Aeruiu, Hærviu, literally "battle-worthy."
has (v.): third person singular present indicative of have.
has-been (n.): "one who has outlived his fame," c. 1600 (as hes-beene), from the verbal phrase; see has + been.
hasenpfeffer (n.): 1873, from German hasenpfeffer, from Hase "hare" (see hare (n.)) + pfeffer "pepper" (see pepper (n.)).
hash (v.): 1650s, "to hack, chop into small pieces," from French hacher "chop up" (14c.), from Old French hache "ax" (see hatchet). Hash browns (1926) is short for hashed browned potatoes (1886), with the -ed omitted, as in mash potatoes. The hash marks on a football field were so called by 1954, from their similarity to hash marks, armed forces slang for "service stripes on the sleeve of a military uniform" (1909), which supposedly were called that because they mark the number of years one has had free food (that is, hash (n.1)) from the Army; but perhaps there is a connection with the noun form of hatch (v.2).
hash (n.2): short for hashish, 1959.
hash (n.1): "a stew of meat cut into small pieces," 1660s, from hash (v.). Meaning "a mix, a mess" is from 1735.
hashish (n.): also hasheesh, 1590s, from Arabic hashish "powdered hemp," extended from sense "herbage, hay," from hashsha "it became dry, it dried up."
Hasidic (adj.): also Chasidic, 1927, from Hasidim + -ic.
Hasidim: also Chasidim, "adherents of a conservative Jewish religious movement founded 1750 by Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer Baal Shem Tobh," 1812, from Hebrew hasidhim, literally "pious ones," plural of hasidh "kind, pious." Earlier the Hebrew word was used in reference to an anti-Hellenistic faction during the time of the Maccabean Wars.
hasp (n.): Old English hæpse "fastening, clip," with later Old English metathesis of -p- and -s-. Related to Old Norse hespa "hasp, fastening," Middle Dutch, German haspe "clamp, hinge, hook," but all are of uncertain origin. The meaning "a quantity of yarn" is from c. 1400 but perhaps not the same word.
hassle (n.): "fuss, trouble," 1945, American English (in "Down Beat" magazine), perhaps from U.S. Southern dialectal hassle "to pant, breathe noisily" (1928), of unknown origin; or perhaps from hatchel "to harass" (1800), which may be a variant of hazel, the name of the plant that furnished switches for whippings. Noted in 1946 as a show biz vogue word.
hassle (v.): 1951, from hassle (n.). Related: Hassled; hassling.
hassock (n.): Old English hassuc "clump of grass, coarse grass," of unknown origin. Sense of "thick cushion" is first recorded 1510s, with the likely connection being the perceived similarity of a kneeling cushion and a tuft of grass. Related: Hassocky.
hast (v.): archaic second person singular present indicative of have, from Old English hæfst.
hasta la vista: Spanish, literally "until the meeting (again)," salutation in parting.
hasta luego: Spanish, literally "until soon;" salutation in parting.
haste (n.): late 13c., "hurrying, haste; celerity, swiftness, speed;" c. 1300, "need for quick action, urgency;" from Old French haste "haste, urgency, hastiness" (12c., Modern French hâte), from Frankish *haifst "violence" or another Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *haifstiz (source also of Gothic haifsts "strife," Old English hæste "violent, vehement, impetuous"). From late 14c. as "undue haste, rashness, unwise or unseemly quickness." To make haste "act quickly" is recorded by 1530s.
haste (v.): late 13c., from Old French haster "hurry, make haste; urge, hurry along" (Modern French hâter), from haste "haste, urgency" (see haste). Now largely superseded by hasten (1560s). Related: Hasted; hasting.
hasten (v.): 1560s, transitive and intransitive, extended form of haste (v.) with -en (1). Related: Hastened; hastening.
hastily (adv.): c. 1300, "quickly," from hasty + -ly (2). Meaning "rashly, without due consideration" is 1580s. Old English hæstlice meant "violently."
Hastings: town in Sussex, site of the great battle in the Norman conquest of England (Oct. 14, 1066), Old English Hæstingas "The Hastings; settlement of the family or followers of a man called *Hæsta;" literally "Hæsta's People."
The Hæstingas were an important tribal group referred to in an 8th cent. Northumbrian chronicle as the gens Hestingorum which seems to have kept a separate identity as late as the early 11th cent. ["Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names"]
hasty (adj.): mid-14c., "early; demanding haste, urgent; quick-tempered, angry;" late 14c. "speedy, swift, quick," by 1500s, from haste (n.) + -y (2); replacing or nativizing earlier hastif (c. 1300) "eager, impetuous," from Old French hastif "speedy, rapid; forward, advanced; rash, impetuous" (12c., Modern French hâtif), from haste (see haste (n.)). Meaning "requiring haste" is late 14c. (this is the sense in hasty-pudding, 1590s, so called because it was made quickly); that of "eager, rash" is from early 15c. Related: Hastiness. Old French also had a form hasti (for loss of terminal -f, compare joli/jolif, etc.), which may have influenced the form of the English word.
hat (n.): Old English hæt "hat, head covering" (variously glossing Latin pileus, galerus, mitra, tiara), from Proto-Germanic *hattuz "hood, cowl" (source also of Frisian hat, Old Norse hattr, höttr "a hood or cowl"), from PIE root *kadh- "cover, protect" (source also of Lithuanian kudas "tuft or crest of a bird," Latin cassis "helmet"). To throw one's hat in the ring was originally (1847) to take up a challenge in prize-fighting. To eat one's hat (1770), expressing what one will do if something he considers a sure thing turns out not to be, is said to have been originally eat Old Rowley's [Charles II's] hat.
hat trick (n.): in the sports sense, 1879, originally in cricket, "taking three wickets on three consecutive deliveries;" extended to other sports c. 1909, especially ice hockey ("In an earlier contest we had handed Army a 6-2 defeat at West Point as Billy Sloane performed hockey's spectacular 'hat trick' by scoring three goals" ["Princeton Alumni Weekly," Feb. 10, 1941]). So called allegedly because it entitled the bowler to receive a hat from his club commemorating the feat (or entitled him to pass the hat for a cash collection), but the term probably has been influenced by the image of a conjurer pulling objects from his hat (an act attested by 1876). The term was used earlier for a different sort of magic trick:
Place a glass of liquor on the table, put a hat over it, and say, "I will engage to drink every drop of that liquor, and yet I'll not touch the hat." You then get under the table; and after giving three knocks, you make a noise with your mouth, as if you were swallowing the liquor. Then, getting from under the table, say "Now, gentlemen, be pleased to look." Some one, eager to see if you have drunk the liquor, will raise the hat; when you instantly take the glass and swallow the contents, saying, "Gentlemen I have fulfilled my promise: you are all witnesses that I did not touch the hat." ["Wit and Wisdom," London, 1860]
hat-box (n.): also hatbox, 1739, from hat (n.) + box (n.1).
hat-rack (n.): 1833, from hat (n.) + rack (n.1).
hatch (v.1): early 13c., hachen, "to produce young from eggs by incubation," probably from an unrecorded Old English *hæccan, of unknown origin, related to Middle High German, German hecken "to mate" (used of birds). Meaning "to come forth from an egg," also "cause to come forth from an egg" are late 14c. Figurative use (of plots, etc.) is from early 14c. Related: Hatched; hatching.
hatch (n.1): "opening, grated gate, half-door," Old English hæc (genitive hæcce) "fence, grating, gate," from Proto-Germanic *hak- (source also of Middle High German heck, Dutch hek "fence, gate"), a word of uncertain origin. This apparently is the source of many of the Hatcher surnames; "one who lives near a gate." Sense of "opening in a ship's deck" is first recorded mid-13c. Drinking phrase down the hatch attested by 1931 (the image is nautical).
hatch (v.2): "engrave, draw fine parallel lines," late 14c., from Old French hachier "chop up, hack" (14c.), from hache "ax" (see hatchet). Related: Hatched; hatching. The noun meaning "an engraved line or stroke" is from 1650s.
hatch (n.2): "that which has hatched; action of hatching," 1620s, from hatch (v.1).
hatch (n.3): "engraved lines or strokes," 1650s, from hatch (v.2).
hatchback: type of rear door of an automobile, 1970, from hatch (n.) + back (n.).
hatchery (n.): 1875, from hatch (v.1) + -ery.
hatchet (n.): c. 1300 (mid-12c. in surnames), "small axe with a short handle," designed to be used by one hand, from Old French hachete "small combat-axe, hatchet," diminutive of hache "axe, battle-axe, pickaxe," possibly from Frankish *happja or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *hapjo- (source also of Old High German happa "sickle, scythe"), from PIE root *kop- "to beat, strike" (source also of Greek kopis "knife," koptein "to strike," komma "piece cut off;" Lithuanian kaplys "hatchet," kapoti "cut small;" Old Church Slavonic skopiti "castrate," Russian kopat' "to hack").

Hatchet-face in reference to one with sharp and prominent features is from 1650s. In Middle English, hatch itself was used in a sense "battle-axe." In 14c., hang up (one's) hatchet meant "stop what one is doing." Phrase bury the hatchet (1794) is from a supposed Native American peacemaking custom. Hatchet-man was originally California slang for "hired Chinese assassin" (1880), later extended figuratively to journalists who attacked the reputation of a public figure (1944).
hatchling (n.): "newly hatched creature," 1854, from hatch (v.1) + diminutive suffix -ling.
hatchway (n.): "square or oblong opening in the deck of a ship," 1620s, from hatch (n.) + way (n.).
hate (v.): Old English hatian "regard with extreme ill-will, have a passionate aversion to, treat as an enemy," from Proto-Germanic *haton (source also of Old Saxon haton, Old Norse hata, German hassen, Gothic hatan "to hate"), from PIE root *kad- "sorrow, hatred" (source also of Avestan sadra- "grief, sorrow, calamity," Greek kedos "care, trouble, sorrow," Welsh cas "pain, anger"). Related: Hated; hating. French haine (n.), haïr (v.) are from Germanic.
hate (n.): Old English hete "hatred, spite, envy, malice, hostility," from Proto-Germanic *hatis- (source also of Old Norse hattr, Old Frisian hat, Dutch haat, Old High German has, German Hass, Gothic hatis; see hate (v.)). Altered in Middle English to conform with the verb. Hate mail is first attested 1951. Hate crime attested from 1988; hate speech by 1990.
hateful (adj.): mid-14c., "full of hate;" late 14c., "exciting hate;" from hate (n.) + -ful. Related: Hatefully; hatefulness.
hater (n.): "one who hates, an enemy," late 14c., agent noun from hate (v.).
hath (v.): archaic third person singular present indicative of have, from Old English hæfð.