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Webster 1913 Edition

Harbor

Har′bor

(här′bẽr)
,
Noun.
[Written also
harbour
.]
[OE.
herbor
,
herberwe
,
herberge
, Icel.
herbergi
(cf. OHG.
heriberga
), orig., a shelter for soldiers;
herr
army +
bjarga
to save, help, defend; akin to AS.
here
army, G.
heer
, OHG.
heri
, Goth.
harjis
, and AS.
beorgan
to save, shelter, defend, G.
bergen
. See
Harry
,
2d Bury
, and cf.
Harbinger
.]
1.
A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter.
[A grove] fair
harbour
that them seems.
Spenser.
For
harbor
at a thousand doors they knocked.
Dryden.
2.
Specif.: A lodging place; an inn.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
3.
(Astrol.)
The mansion of a heavenly body.
[Obs.]
4.
A portion of a sea, a lake, or other large body of water, either landlocked or artificially protected so as to be a place of safety for vessels in stormy weather; a port or haven.
5.
(Glass Works)
A mixing box for materials.
Harbor dues
(Naut.)
,
fees paid for the use of a harbor.
–
Harbor seal
(Zool.)
,
the common seal.
–
Harbor watch
,
a watch set when a vessel is in port; an anchor watch.

Har′bor

(här′bẽr)
,
Verb.
T.
[Written also
harbour
.]
[
imp. & p. p.
Harbored
(-bẽrd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Harboring
.]
[OE.
herberen
,
herberwen
,
herbergen
; cf. Icel.
herbergja
. See
Harbor
,
Noun.
]
To afford lodging to; to entertain as a guest; to shelter; to receive; to give a refuge to; to indulge or cherish (a thought or feeling, esp. an ill thought);
as, to
harbor
a grudge
.
Any place that
harbors
men.
Shakespeare
The bare suspicion made it treason to
harbor
the person suspected.
Bp. Burnet.
Let not your gentle breast
harbor
one thought of outrage.
Rowe.

Har′bor

,
Verb.
I.
To lodge, or abide for a time; to take shelter, as in a harbor.
For this night let’s
harbor
here in York.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Harbor

H`ARBOR

,
Noun.
1.
A lodging; a place of entertainment and rest.
For harbor at a thousand doors they knocked.
2.
A port or haven for ships; a bay or inlet of the sea, in which ships can moor, and be sheltered from the fury of winds and a heavy sea; any navigable water where ships can ride in safety.
3.
An asylum; a shelter; a place of safety from storms or danger.

H`ARBOR

,
Verb.
T.
To shelter; to secure; to secrete; as, to harbor a thief.
1.
To entertain; to permit to lodge, rest or reside; as, to harbor malice or revenge.
Harbor not a thought of revenge.

H`ARBOR

,
Verb.
I.
To lodge or abide for a time; to receive entertainment.
This night let's harbor here in York.
1.
To take shelter.

Definition 2024

harbor

harbor

English

The harbour (sheltered area for ships) of Bonifacio, Corsica.

Alternative forms

Noun

harbor ‎(plural harbors)

  1. (obsolete, uncountable) Shelter, refuge.
  2. Any place of shelter.
    The neighborhood is a well-known harbor for petty thieves.

is this attested in modern English?:

  1. (obsolete) A house of the zodiac, or the mansion of a heavenly body.
    • Late 14th century: To ech of hem his tyme and his seson, / As thyn herberwe chaungeth lowe or heighe — Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Franklin’s Tale’, Canterbury Tales
  2. 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
  3. A mixing box for materials in glass-working.

Derived terms

Translations

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.
    • 2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 193:
      Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.
    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

See also

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 Microsoft's Encarta World English Dictionary, North American Edition (2007)
  • “harbor” in the Compact Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 2007)
  • Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.

Etymology

From Middle English herber, herberge, from Old English herebeorg ‎(“shelter, lodgings, quarters”), from Proto-Germanic *harjabergō ‎(“army shelter, refuge”) (compare West Frisian herberch ‎(“inn”), Dutch herberg ‎(“inn”), German Herberge), from *harjaz ‎(“army”) + *bergō ‎(“protection”), equivalent to Old English here ‎(“army, host”) + beorg ‎(“defense, protection, refuge”). Cognate with Old Norse herbergi ‎(“a harbour; a room”) (whence the Icelandic herbergi), Dutch herberg, German Herberge ‎(“hospice”), Swedish härbärge. Compare also French auberge ‎(“hostel”). More at here, harry, borrow and bury.

Pronunciation

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