hart

See also: Hart, HART, hårt, and hârt

English

a hart with impressive hartshorn

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /hɑːt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /hɑɹt/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)t
• Homophones: Hart, heart

Etymology 1

From Middle English hert, from Old English heorot (“stag”), from Proto-West Germanic *herut, from Proto-Germanic *herutaz (compare Dutch hert, German Hirsch, Danish/Norwegian/Swedish hjort), from Pre-Germanic *kerudos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“horn”). Doublet of Heorot.

Cognates

Compare Welsh carw (“deer”), Latin cervus (“deer”), cervīx (“nape of the neck”), Lithuanian kárvė (“cow”), Russian коро́ва (koróva, “cow”), Ancient Greek κόρυδος (kórudos, “crested lark”), κορυφή (koruphḗ, “summit, crown of the head”), κορύπτω (korúptō, “to butt with horns”), Avestan 𐬯𐬭𐬏 (srū), 𐬯𐬭𐬎𐬎𐬁 (sruuā, “horn; claw, talon”), Sanskrit शरभ (śarabhá, “mythical antelope”). More at horn.

Noun

hart (countable and uncountable, plural hart or harts)

1. (countable) A male deer, especially the male of the red deer after his fifth year.

   Synonyms: buck; stag (sometimes hyponymous)

   Hypernyms: deer < cervid < ungulate < mammal < animal < creature, critter

   Hyponyms: brocket, knobber, knobbler, pricket, spitter, spayard, spay

   Coordinate term: hind (the female)

   • c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

     With milke-white Hartes vpon an Iuorie ſled,
     Thou ſhalt be drawen amidſt the froſen Pooles,
     And ſcale the yſie mountaines lofty tops:
     Which with thy beautie will be soone reſolu’d.

   • 1612, Michael Drayton, “The thirteenth Song”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes] for M[athew] Lownes; I[ohn] Browne; I[ohn] Helme; I[ohn] Busbie, →OCLC, page 213:

     Then, finding Herds of luſtie Deare, / She Huntreſſe-like the Hart purſues; […]

2. (uncountable) The meat from this animal.
   • 1891 July 8, L. S., “Twenty Hidden Towns in One State”, in Good Housekeeping […], volume XIII, number 2 (154 overall), Springfield, Mass., published August 1891, →OCLC, page 95, column 1:

     We are to have hart for dinner on Jack’s birthday; you call it deer in Grenada.

   • 1999, James B[iser] Whisker, “Hunting in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition”, in The Right to Hunt, revised edition, Bellevue, Wash.: Merril Press, →ISBN, page 38:

     The people of Israel knew something of hunting, as in the stories of eating hart and roebuck, and venison.

   • 2003, Richard D. Taber, Neil F. Payne, “Ancient Warrior-Rulers”, in Wildlife, Conservation, and Human Welfare: A United States and Canadian Perspective, Malabar, Fla.: Krieger Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 30:

     Still, the people of Israel certainly knew about hunting, because they ate hart (red deer) and roe deer.

Derived terms

• Elkhart
• Hartford
• hart of grease
• hartshorn
• hartstongue
• hartwort
• Hertford
• White Hart Lane

Translations

male deer

• Arabic: أَيَّل m (ʔayyal)
• Czech: jelen (cs) m
• Dutch: hertenbok m, hert (nl) n or m, reebok (nl) m
• Faroese: hjørtur m
• Finnish: saksanhirviuros
• French: cerf (fr) m

  Old French: cerf m

• Frisian:

  West Frisian: hart

• German: männlicher Hirsch m, Hirschbock (de) m
• Hebrew: אַיָּל (he) m (ayyál)
• Irish: carria m, damhfhia m
• Italian: cervo maschio
• Latin: cervus (la) m
• Low German:

  German Low German: Hirsch

• Māori: hāta
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bukk (no) m, kronhjort m

• Old English: heorot
• Plautdietsch: Hersch m
• Polish: jeleń (pl) m
• Portuguese: cervo (pt) m
• Russian: саме́ц оленя (saméc olenja)
• Slovak: jeleň (sk)
• Spanish: macho (es) m de ciervo (es) m
• Swedish: (red; fallow) hjort (sv) c
• Turkish: erkek karaca, erkek geyik
• Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎊𐎍 m (ảyl)

Etymology 2

See heart.

Noun

hart (plural harts)

1. Obsolete spelling of heart.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], signature B, recto:

     For this reliefe much thanks, tis bitter cold, / And I am ſick at hart.

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of hardware thread. As stated in The RISC-V Instruction Set Manual, Volume I:

The term hart was introduced in the work on Lithe (Pan et al., 2009) and (Pan et al., 2010) to provide a term to represent an abstract execution resource as opposed to a software thread programming abstraction.

RISC-V Foundation

The corresponding source reads:

Our proposal has two main components. First, we export a new low-level unvirtualized hardware thread abstraction, or hart, from the operating system to applications. […]

Heidi Pan, Benjamin Hindman, Krste Asanović

Noun

hart (plural harts)

1. (computing) In the RISC-V instruction set architecture, a hardware thread.

   It is required by the RISC-V specification that at least one hart be assigned an ID of 0.

References

• Andrew Waterman, Krste Asanović, editors (24 October 2025), The RISC-V Instruction Set Manual, Volume I: User-Level ISA‎^[1], Document Version 20191214-draft edition, page 14
• Heidi Pan, Benjamin Hindman, Krste Asanović (2009), “Lithe: Enabling efficient composition of parallel libraries”, in Proc. of HotPar‎^[2], volume 9‎^[3]

Anagrams

• Arth, Rath, Thar, rath, tahr, thar

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch hart, from Middle Dutch herte, harte, from Old Dutch herta, from Proto-Germanic *hertô, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

hart (plural harte)

1. heart

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦɑrt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hart
• Rhymes: -ɑrt
• Homophone: hard

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch herte, harte, from Old Dutch herta, from Proto-West Germanic *hertā, from Proto-Germanic *hertô, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr.

Noun

hart n or f (plural harten, diminutive hartje n)

1. heart, main muscle pumping blood through the body
2. the center point or zone of an object, image etc.
3. the core or essence of some thing, reasoning etc.
4. compassionate or similar feelings

Usage notes

• Previously the gender of this word could be feminine, which is still reflected in fossilized expressions such as ter harte nemen, which uses feminine case forms (ter). In modern usage the word is always neuter, however (leaving aside the mentioned fossilized expressions).

Alternative forms

• hert, herte

Derived terms

• dorpshart
• Groene Hart
• hartaanval
• hartelijk
• harteloos
• hartendief
• hartfalen
• hartkamer
• hartoperatie
• hartprobleem
• hartritme
• hartschelp
• hartslag
• hartstilstand
• hartstocht
• hartstoornis
• hartverlamming
• hartverzakking
• hartvormig
• hartzeer
• hartziekte
• na aan het hart liggen
• stadshart
• ter harte nemen
• van ganser harte
• van harte

Descendants

• Afrikaans: hart
• Negerhollands: hert, hart, hat
• → Sranan Tongo: ati
  • → Saramaccan: áti, háti
• → Unami: halët

Etymology 2

Noun

hart n (plural harten, diminutive hartje n)

1. (Northern) archaic form of hert (“deer”)

Faroese

Etymology

See harður (“hard, loud”)

Adjective

hart (neuter of harður)

1. hard
2. loud

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French hart, from Old French hart, hard, a borrowing from Frankish *heʀdā.

Pronunciation

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /aʁ/, /aʁt/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

hart f (plural harts)

1. (archaic) cord, rope; halter (hangman's rope)

Further reading

• “hart”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

German

Etymology

From Middle High German hart, Old High German hart, from Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī), from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kortús (“strong; powerful”). Cognate with Low German hard, hart, Dutch hard, English hard, Danish hård.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hart/, [haʁt], [haɐ̯t], [haːt]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Homophones: harrt (general), haart (some speakers)

Adjective

hart (strong nominative masculine singular harter, comparative härter, superlative am härtesten)

1. hard
2. severe, harsh
   • 1981, “Polizisten”, performed by Extrabreit:

     Sie rauchen "Milde Sorte" / Weil–das Leben ist doch hart genug

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2012 May 2, Die Welt, page 10:

     Die harten Einschnitte zum Schuldenabbau standen in vielen EU-Ländern im Zentrum der Kritik der Demonstranten.

     The severe cuts for the reduction of debt were in many EU countries at the center of criticism by the protesters.

3. (figurative) unmoved, cold, cruel
   • 1924, Thomas Mann, Der Zauberberg [The Magic Mountain], volume 1, Berlin: S. Fischer, page 528:

     Seit vier Jahren hier oben, war die Mittellose von harten Verwandten abhängig, die sie schon einmal, da sie doch sterben müsse, von hier fortgenommen und nur auf Einspruch des Hofrats wieder heraufgeschickt hatten.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Positive forms of hart

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist hart	sie ist hart	es ist hart	sie sind hart
strong declension (without article)	nominative	harter	harte	hartes	harte
	genitive	harten	harter	harten	harter
	dative	hartem	harter	hartem	harten
	accusative	harten	harte	hartes	harte
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der harte	die harte	das harte	die harten
	genitive	des harten	der harten	des harten	der harten
	dative	dem harten	der harten	dem harten	den harten
	accusative	den harten	die harte	das harte	die harten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein harter	eine harte	ein hartes	(keine) harten
	genitive	eines harten	einer harten	eines harten	(keiner) harten
	dative	einem harten	einer harten	einem harten	(keinen) harten
	accusative	einen harten	eine harte	ein hartes	(keine) harten

Comparative forms of hart

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist härter	sie ist härter	es ist härter	sie sind härter
strong declension (without article)	nominative	härterer	härtere	härteres	härtere
	genitive	härteren	härterer	härteren	härterer
	dative	härterem	härterer	härterem	härteren
	accusative	härteren	härtere	härteres	härtere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der härtere	die härtere	das härtere	die härteren
	genitive	des härteren	der härteren	des härteren	der härteren
	dative	dem härteren	der härteren	dem härteren	den härteren
	accusative	den härteren	die härtere	das härtere	die härteren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein härterer	eine härtere	ein härteres	(keine) härteren
	genitive	eines härteren	einer härteren	eines härteren	(keiner) härteren
	dative	einem härteren	einer härteren	einem härteren	(keinen) härteren
	accusative	einen härteren	eine härtere	ein härteres	(keine) härteren

Superlative forms of hart

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am härtesten	sie ist am härtesten	es ist am härtesten	sie sind am härtesten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	härtester	härteste	härtestes	härteste
	genitive	härtesten	härtester	härtesten	härtester
	dative	härtestem	härtester	härtestem	härtesten
	accusative	härtesten	härteste	härtestes	härteste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der härteste	die härteste	das härteste	die härtesten
	genitive	des härtesten	der härtesten	des härtesten	der härtesten
	dative	dem härtesten	der härtesten	dem härtesten	den härtesten
	accusative	den härtesten	die härteste	das härteste	die härtesten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein härtester	eine härteste	ein härtestes	(keine) härtesten
	genitive	eines härtesten	einer härtesten	eines härtesten	(keiner) härtesten
	dative	einem härtesten	einer härtesten	einem härtesten	(keinen) härtesten
	accusative	einen härtesten	eine härteste	ein härtestes	(keine) härtesten

Derived terms

• härten
• Härte

Adverb

hart

1. hard (with force or effort)

   Sie haben die ganze Woche hart gearbeitet.

   They worked hard all week.

2. sharply, roughly, severely
3. close [with an (+ dative) ‘to someone/something’]

Further reading

• “hart” in Duden online
• “hart” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Icelandic

Adjective

hart

1. neuter nominative/accusative of harður

Irish

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English heart.

Alternative forms

• hartas

Noun

hart m (genitive singular hairt, nominative plural hairt)

1. (card games) heart

Declension

Declension of hart (first declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative hart hairt vocative a hairt a harta genitive hairt hart dative hart hairt forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an hart na hairt genitive an hairt na hart dative leis an hart don hart leis na hairt

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

hart

1. h-prothesized form of art

References

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “hart”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Middle Dutch

Alternative forms

• hert

Etymology

From Old Dutch hart.

Adjective

hart

1. hard (not soft)
2. solid, sturdy
3. hard, harsh, cruel

Inflection

Adjective

		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	indefinite	hart	harde	hart	harde
	definite	harde		harde
accusative	indefinite	harden	harde	hart	harde
	definite			harde
genitive	indefinite	harts	harder	harts	harder
	definite	harts, harden		harts, harden
dative		harden	harder	harden	harden

Descendants

• Dutch: hard
  • Jersey Dutch: hārd
  • Negerhollands: hart
  • Skepi Creole Dutch: hardt

Further reading

• “hart”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “hart (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page II

North Frisian

Alternative forms

• Hart (Sylt)

Etymology

From Old Frisian herte, from Proto-West Germanic *hertā. Cognates include West Frisian hert.

Noun

hart n (plural harten)

1. (Föhr-Amrum, Mooring) heart

   At hart klopet/böget.

   My heart is beating.

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī).

Adjective

hart (comparative hardiro, superlative hardist)

1. hard

Inflection

Declension of hart (a-stem)

strong declension
case	masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
nominative	hart	hart	hart	harda, harde
accusative	hardan, harden	harda	hart	harda, harde
genitive	hardes	hardero	hardes	hardero
dative	hardin, hardemo	hardero	hardin, hardemo	hardon
weak declension
case	masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
nominative	hardo	harda	harda	hardon
accusative	hardon	hardon	harda	hardon
genitive	hardin	hardon	hardin	hardono
dative	hardin	hardon	hardin	hardon

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: hart, hert
  • Dutch: hard
    • Jersey Dutch: hārd
    • Negerhollands: hart
    • Skepi Creole Dutch: hardt

Further reading

• “hart (II)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old High German

Alternative forms

• herti

Etymology

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

Adjective

hart

1. hard, firm
2. steadfast, firm in character or opinion; insistent
3. difficult to endure, severe, oppressive
4. hard to do
5. strong, intense

Declension

Strong declension of hart

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hartēr, hart	hartiu, hart	hartaȥ, hart
accusative	hartan	harta	hartaȥ, hart
genitive	hartes	hartera	hartes
dative	hartemu	harteru	hartemu
instrumental	hartu	—	hartu
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	harte, hart	harto, hart	hartiu, hart
accusative	harte	harto	hartiu, hart
genitive	hartero	hartero	hartero
dative	hartēm	hartēm	hartēm

Weak declension of hart

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	harto	harta	harta
accusative	harton	hartūn	harta
genitive	harten	hartūn	harten
dative	harten	hartūn	harten
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	harton	hartūn	harton
accusative	harton	hartūn	harton
genitive	hartōno	hartōno	hartōno
dative	hartōm	hartōm	hartōm

Declension of comparative of hart

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hartōro	hartōra	hartōra
accusative	hartōron	hartōrūn	hartōra
genitive	hartōren	hartōrūn	hartōren
dative	hartōren	hartōrūn	hartōren
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hartōron	hartōrūn	hartōron
accusative	hartōron	hartōrūn	hartōron
genitive	hartōrōno	hartōrōno	hartōrōno
dative	hartōrōm	hartōrōm	hartōrōm

Strong declension of superlative hart

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hartōstēr, hartōst	hartōstiu, hartōst	hartōstaȥ, hartōst
accusative	hartōstan	hartōsta	hartōstaȥ, hartōst
genitive	hartōstes	hartōstera	hartōstes
dative	hartōstemu	hartōsteru	hartōstemu
instrumental	hartōstu	—	hartōstu
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hartōste, hartōst	hartōsto, hartōst	hartōstiu, hartōst
accusative	hartōste	hartōsto	hartōstiu, hartōst
genitive	hartōstero	hartōstero	hartōstero
dative	hartōstēm	hartōstēm	hartōstēm

Weak declension of superlative hart

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hartōsto	hartōsta	hartōsta
accusative	hartōston	hartōstūn	hartōsta
genitive	hartōsten	hartōstūn	hartōsten
dative	hartōsten	hartōstūn	hartōsten
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	hartōston	hartōstūn	hartōston
accusative	hartōston	hartōstūn	hartōston
genitive	hartōstōno	hartōstōno	hartōstōno
dative	hartōstōm	hartōstōm	hartōstōm

Derived terms

• einhart (adjective)
• hartī

Descendants

• Middle High German: hart, herte
  • Alemannic German: hert

    Swabian: hirrt

  • Bavarian: hoat
  • Central Franconian: haat
  • German: hart
  • Luxembourgish: haart
  • Yiddish: האַרט (hart)

References

• Karg-Gasterstädt, Elisabeth; Frings, Theodor; et al., editors (1952–2022), “hart”, in Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch‎^[4] (in German), Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, via Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig

Old Norse

Adjective

hart

1. strong neuter nominative/accusative singular of harðr

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from German Härte, from Old High German hartī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxart/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -art
• Syllabification: hart
• Homophone: chart

Noun

hart m inan

1. strength, resilience, fortitude

Declension

Declension of hart

	singular
nominative	hart
genitive	hartu
dative	hartowi
accusative	hart
instrumental	hartem
locative	harcie
vocative	harcie

Derived terms

adjective

• hartowany

verb

• hartować

Further reading

• hart in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• hart in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish hart, from Old Swedish harþer, from Old Norse harðr. Doublet of hård.

Adverb

hart (not comparable)

1. only used in hart när

References

• hart in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• hart in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• hart in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian hert, from Proto-West Germanic *herut.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hat/

Noun

hart n (plural harten, diminutive hartsje)

1. deer

Derived terms

• reahart

Further reading

• “hart (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Yola

Noun

hart

1. alternative form of hearth
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 10, page 88:

     Oore hart cam' t' oore mouth, an zo w' all ee green;

     Our hearts came to our mouth, and so with all in the green;

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 88