harbor

English

Alternative forms

• harbour (Commonwealth)

Pronunciation

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Etymology

Middle English herberwe, herberge, from Old English herebeorg ‘military quarters, hostelry’, from Proto-Germanic *harjabergō (cf. West Frisian herberch ‘inn’, Dutch herberg ‘id.’, German Herberge ‘id.’), compound of *harjaz ‘army’ and *bergō ‘refuge, shelter’, deverbative of *ƀerʒanan ‘to protect, shelter’ (cf. Old English beorgan). More at harry and bury.

Noun

harbor (plural harbors)

1. A sheltered expanse of water, adjacent to land, in which ships may dock or anchor, especially for loading and unloading.

   A harbor, even if it is a little harbor, is a good thing, since adventurers come into it as well as go out, and the life in it grows strong, because it takes something from the world, and has something to give in return - Sarah Orne Jewett

2. Any place of shelter.

   The neighborhood is a well-known harbor for petty thieves.

Derived terms

terms derived from harbor (noun)

harborage harbormaster

harbor seal safe harbor

Translations

a place for ships

Bulgarian: пристанище (bg) (pristanište) n., пристан (bg) (pristan) m. Croatian: luka (hr) f. Danish: havn (da) Dutch: haven (nl) m. and f. Esperanto: haveno (eo) Finnish: satama (fi) French: port (fr), quai (fr) m. Georgian: იხილეთ (ka) (ixilet) German: Hafen (de) m. Hawaiian: hono Icelandic: höfn (is) f. Italian: porto (it) m.

Japanese: 港 (minato) Korean: 항구 (hanggu) Latvian: osta (lv) f. Lithuanian: uostas (lt) m. Malay: bandar (ms) Polish: port (pl) m. Portuguese: cais (pt), porto (pt) Russian: гавань (ru) f. Slovene: pristanišče (sl) n., pristan (sl) m. Spanish: puerto (es) m. Swedish: hamn (sv) c.

any place of shelter

Bulgarian: подслон (bg) (podslon) m., убежище (bg) (ubežište) n.

Finnish: turvapaikka, turvasatama

Verb

harbor (third-person singular simple present harbors, present participle harboring, simple past and past participle harbored)

1. (transitive) To provide a harbor or safe place for.

   The docks, which once harbored tall ships, now harbor only petty thieves.

2. (intransitive) To take refuge or shelter in a protected expanse of water.

   The fleet harbored in the south.

3. (transitive) To hold or persistently entertain in one's thoughts or mind.

   She harbors a conviction that her husband has a secret, criminal past.

Translations

to provide safe place

Finnish: suojella, antaa suojapaikka

French: abriter (fr), protéger (fr), accoster (fr)

to hold in one's thoughts

Finnish: hautoa mielessään

See also

• haven
• dock

References

• harbor in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• “harbor” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• "harbor" in Encarta® World English Dictionary [North American Edition] © & (P)2007 Microsoft Corporation.
• "harbour" in Compact Oxford English Dictionary, © Oxford University Press, 2007.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.