hard

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See also: Hard, härd, and hård

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English hard, from Old English heard (“hard”), from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kert-, *kret- (“strong; powerful”). Cognate with West Frisian hurd, Dutch and Norwegian hard, Old Saxon hard, hart, German hart, Danish hård.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

hard (comparative harder, superlative hardest)

  1. (of material or fluid) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty.
    1. Resistant to pressure.
      This bread is so stale and hard, I can barely cut it.
    2. (of drink) Strong.
    3. (of water) High in dissolved chemical salts, especially those of calcium.
    4. (physics, of a ferromagnetic material) Having the capability of being a permanent magnet by being a material with high magnetic coercivity (compare soft).
  2. (personal or social) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty.
    1. Requiring a lot of effort to do or understand.
      a hard problem
      • 1988, An Oracle, Edmund White
        Ray found it hard to imagine having accumulated so many mannerisms before the dawn of sex, of the sexual need to please, of the staginess sex encourages or the tightly capped wells of poisoned sexual desire the disappointed must stand guard over.
      • 2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32:
        The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters such as ostrich, wild boar and crocodile.
    2. Demanding a lot of effort to endure.
      a hard life
    3. Severe, harsh, unfriendly, brutal.
      a hard master;  a hard heart;  hard words;  a hard character
      don't be so hard on yourself
    4. (dated) Difficult to resist or control; powerful.
  3. Unquestionable.
    hard evidence
    • 2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The Guardian:
      Unsurprisingly for a man who went into mourning for three years after the death in 1994 of his own father, the legendary leader Kim Il-sung, and who in the first 30 years of his political career made no public statements, even to his own people, Kim's career is riddled with claims, counter claims, speculation, and contradiction. There are few hard facts about his birth and early years.
  4. (of a road intersection) Having a comparatively larger or a ninety-degree angle.
    At the intersection, there are two roads going to the left. Take the hard left.
  5. (slang, vulgar, of a male) Sexually aroused.
    I got so hard watching two hot girls wrestle each other on the beach.
  6. (bodybuilding) Having muscles that are tightened as a result of intense, regular exercise.
  7. (phonetics, not comparable)
    1. Plosive.
      There is a hard c in "clock" and a soft c in "centre".
    2. Unvoiced
      Hard k, t, s, ch, as distinguished from soft, g, d, z, j.
    3. Velarized or plain, rather than palatalized
      The letter ж (ž) in Russian is always hard.
  8. (art) Having a severe property; presenting a barrier to enjoyment.
    1. Rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures; formal; lacking grace of composition.
    2. Having disagreeable and abrupt contrasts in colour or shading.
  9. (not comparable) In the form of a hard copy.
    We need both a digital archive and a hard archive.

Synonyms[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from hard

Related terms[edit]

Related terms

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Adverb[edit]

hard (comparative harder, superlative hardest)

  1. (manner) With much force or effort.
    He hit the puck hard up the ice.
    They worked hard all week.
    At the intersection, bear hard left.
    The recession hit them especially hard.
    Think hard about your choices.
    • Dryden
      prayed so hard for mercy from the prince
    • Shakespeare
      My father / Is hard at study; pray now, rest yourself.
    • 1985, Michael A. Arbib, In search of the person: philosophical explorations in cognitive science, page 119:
      What, then, of the voluntarist's sense that one often has to think long and hard before making agonizing choices?
  2. (manner) With difficulty.
    His degree was hard earned.
    The vehicle moves hard.
  3. (obsolete) So as to raise difficulties.
    • Sir Thomas Browne
      The question is hard set.
  4. (manner) Compactly.
    The lake had finally frozen hard.
  5. (now archaic) Near, close.
    • Bible, Acts xviii. 7
      whose house joined hard to the synagogue
    • 1999, George RR Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam 2011, page 418:
      It was another long day's march before they glimpsed the towers of Harrenhal in the distance, hard beside the blue waters of the lake.

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

hard (countable and uncountable, plural hards)

  1. (countable, nautical) A firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water.
    • 1952, Edward John Barrington Douglas-Scott-Montagu Baron Montagu, ‎Beaulieu, the Abbey, Palace House, and Buckler's Hard (page 36)
      The Monastery's ironworks at Sowley were renowned for centuries but declined with the passing of the 'wooden walls' at Buckler's Hard — a great number of these ships having been built with timber from the Beaulieu Woods […]
  2. (uncountable, drugs, colloquial, slang) crack cocaine.

Statistics[edit]

Most common English words before 1923 in Project Gutenberg: family · earth · live · #403: hard · ask · question · doubt

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Dutch hart, from Old Dutch hart, from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kert-, *kret- (“strong; powerful”). Compare German hart, English hard, Danish hård.

Adjective[edit]

hard (comparative harder, superlative hardst)

  1. (objects) hard, strong
  2. (economics) (of a currency) strong, not easily devalued
  3. unquestionable, uncontestable
    harde feiten: hard facts
  4. (emotion) heartless, unsympathetic
  5. hard, difficult
    een harde strijd: a difficult fight
  6. (magnitude) harsh, heavy
    harde straffen: harsh punishments
    een harde regen: heavy rain
  7. (water) hard, rich in calcium
  8. (sound) loud

Inflection[edit]

Inflection of hard
uninflected hard
inflected harde
comparative harder
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial hard harder het hardst
het hardste
indefinite m./f. sing. harde hardere hardste
n. sing. hard harder hardste
plural harde hardere hardste
definite harde hardere hardste
partitive hards harders —

Antonyms[edit]

  • resistant to pressure: zacht

Derived terms[edit]

Adverb[edit]

hard

  1. (speed) fast, swiftly
    Ik heb een bekeuring gekregen omdat ik te hard heb gereden.
    I got a ticket because I drove too fast.
  2. very
  3. (noise) loudly

Verb[edit]

hard

  1. first-person singular present indicative of harden
  2. imperative of harden

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowing from English hard.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

hard (plural hards)

  1. (of pornography) hardcore
    Des photos hards.
    Hardcore pictures.

Noun[edit]

hard m (plural hards)

  1. hardcore pornography
    Le Journal du hard est une émission de Canal + dédiée au cinéma pornographique.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Irish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

hard

  1. h-prothesized form of ard

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse harðr, from Proto-Germanic *harduz, Proto-Indo-European *kert-, *kret- (“strong; powerful”).

Adjective[edit]

hard (neuter singular hardt, definite singular and plural harde, comparative hardere, indefinite superlative hardest, definite superlative hardeste)

  1. hard (not soft)
  2. hard, stern, severe
  3. hardy

Related terms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse harðr, from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kert-, *kret- (“strong; powerful”). Akin to English hard.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

hard (masculine and feminine hard, neuter hardt, definite singular and plural harde, comparative hardare, indefinite superlative hardast, definite superlative hardaste)

  1. hard
  2. hard, stern, severe
  3. hardy

References[edit]

Old Saxon[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *harduz, whence also Old English heard, Old Dutch hart, Old Frisian herd, Old Norse harðr, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌿𐍃 (hardus). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kert-, *kret- (“strong; powerful”).

Adjective[edit]

hard (comparative hardiro, superlative hardist)

  1. hard

Declension[edit]

Positive forms of hard
Strong declension
gender masculine neuter feminine
case singular plural singular plural singular plural
nominative hard harde hard hardu hard harde
accusative hardana harde harda hardu hard harde
genitive hardes hardarō hardaro hardarō hardes hardarō
dative hardumu hardum hardaro hardum hardumu hardum
Weak declension
gender masculine neuter feminine
case singular plural singular plural singular plural
nominative hardo hardu harda hardu harda hardu
accusative hardun hardun hardun hardun harda hardun
genitive hardun hardonō hardun hardonō hardun hardonō
dative hardun hardum hardun hardum hardun hardum


Comparative forms of hard (weak only)
Weak declension
gender masculine neuter feminine
case singular plural singular plural singular plural
nominative hardiro hardiru hardira hardiru hardira hardiru
accusative hardirun hardirun hardirun hardirun hardira hardirun
genitive hardirun hardironō hardirun hardironō hardirun hardironō
dative hardirun hardirum hardirun hardirum hardirun hardirum


Superlative forms of hard
Strong declension
gender masculine neuter feminine
case singular plural singular plural singular plural
nominative hardist hardiste hardist hardistu hardist hardiste
accusative hardistana hardiste hardista hardistu hardist hardiste
genitive hardistes hardistarō hardistaro hardistarō hardistes hardistarō
dative hardistumu hardistum hardistaro hardistum hardistumu hardistum
Weak declension
gender masculine neuter feminine
case singular plural singular plural singular plural
nominative hardisto hardistu hardista hardistu hardista hardistu
accusative hardistun hardistun hardistun hardistun hardista hardistun
genitive hardistun hardistonō hardistun hardistonō hardistun hardistonō
dative hardistun hardistum hardistun hardistum hardistun hardistum


Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

Spanish[edit]

Adjective[edit]

hard (invariable)

  1. hard, heavy, hardcore
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