Advertisement

hide (v.1)

Old English hydan (transitive and intransitive) "to hide, conceal; preserve; hide oneself; bury a corpse," from West Germanic *hudjan (source also of Middle Dutch, Middle Low German huden), from suffixed form of PIE *keudh- (source also of Greek keuthein "to hide, conceal"), from root *(s)keu- "to cover, conceal."

hide (n.1)

"skin of a large animal," Old English hyd "a hide, a skin," from Proto-Germanic *hudiz (source also of Old Norse huð, Old Frisian hed, Middle Dutch huut, Dutch huid, Old High German hut, German Haut "skin"), from PIE root *(s)keu- "to cover, conceal."

Related prehistorically to Old English verb hydan "to hide" (see hide (v.1)), the common notion being of "covering." The alliterative pairing of hide and hair (often negative, hide nor hair) was in Middle English (early 15c.), but earlier and more common was hide ne hewe, literally "skin and complexion ('hue')" (c. 1200).

hide (n.2)

a measure of land (obsolete), Old English hid "hide of land," earlier higid, from hiw- "family," from or related to hiwan "household," hiwo "a husband, master of a household," from Proto-Germanic *hiwido-, from PIE *keiwo- (source also of Latin civis "citizen"), from PIE root *kei- (1) "to lie," also forming words for "bed, couch," and with a secondary sense of "beloved, dear."

The notion was of "amount of land needed to feed one free family and dependents," usually 100 or 120 acres, but the amount could be as little as 60, depending on the quality of the land. Often also defined as "as much land as could be tilled by one plow in a year." Translated in Latin as familia.

Others are reading

Advertisement
Advertisement
Definitions of hide from WordNet
1
hide (v.)
prevent from being seen or discovered;
Synonyms: conceal
hide (v.)
be or go into hiding; keep out of sight, as for protection and safety;
Synonyms: hide out
hide (v.)
cover as if with a shroud;
Synonyms: shroud / enshroud / cover
hide (v.)
make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing;
Synonyms: obscure / blot out / obliterate / veil
2
hide (n.)
the dressed skin of an animal (especially a large animal);
Synonyms: fell
hide (n.)
body covering of a living animal;
Synonyms: pelt / skin
From wordnet.princeton.edu