Hallow

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈhæləʊ/
• US IPA: /ˈhæloÊŠ/
• Rhymes: -æləʊ

From Middle English halwe ("a saint, holy thing, shrine"), from Old English hālga ("saint"), from Proto-Germanic *hailagô ("holy one"), from *hailagaz ("holy"), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz ("whole, safe, hale"), from Proto-Indo-European *koil- ("safe, unharmed"). Cognate with Scots halow, hallow ("saint"), German Heilige ("saint"). More at holy, whole.

Full definition of hallow

Noun

1. (archaic or dialectal) A saint; a holy person; an apostle.All Hallows Eve (or Halloween), the night before All Hallows Day (now more commonly known as "All Saints Day").

Derived terms

• Hallow-day
• hallowdom
• hallowed
• Halloween, Hallow-eve
• Hallow-fair
• Hallowmas, Hallowmass
• Hallow-tide

From Middle English halwen ("to hallow, sanctify"), from Old English hālgian ("to hallow, sanctify, make holy"), from Proto-Germanic *hailagōną ("to make holy"), from *hailagaz ("holy"), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz ("whole, safe, hale"), from Proto-Indo-European *koil- ("safe, unharmed"). Cognate with Dutch heiligen ("to hallow"), German heiligen ("to bless"). More at holy.

Verb

1. (transitive) To make holy, to sanctify.
• 1847, Charles Swain, Dramatic Chapters: Poems and Songs, Come hallow the goblet with something more true
  Than words we forget in a minute.

From Middle English halowen, from halow, from Old English ēalā ("O!, alas!, oh!, lo!", interjection.), probably conflated with Old French halloer.

Alternative forms

• halow, alow, a lo obsolete
• hallo, hollo

Verb

1. To shout, especially to urge on dogs for hunting.

Noun

1. A shout, cry; a hulloo.
• 1777, Robin Hood's Chase, reprinted inThen away they went from merry Sherwood
  And into Yorkshire he did hie
  And the King did follow, with a hoop and a hallow
  But could not come him nigh.
• 1772, William Read Staples, The Documentary History of the Destruction of the GaspeeI told them, the sherriff could not be admitted on board this time of night, on which they set up a hallow and rowed as fast as they could towards the vessel's bows.

Adjective

1. Alternative spelling of hollow
• 1902, National Council of Geography Teachers (U.S.), The Journal of Geography, If the sun were a hallow sphere of its present size and the earth were placed at the center, the moon could .... Such a hallow sphere would hold more than a million balls the size of the earth.
• 2003, George A. Lyall, To a Different Drummer: A Family's Story, But it was not a hallow victory.