• Harvest

    Pronunciation

    • US IPA: /ˈhɑɹ.vɪst/
    • UK IPA: /ˈhɑː(ɹ)vɪst/
    • Australia IPA: /ˈhaːvÉ™st/

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    From Middle English harvest, hervest, from Old English hærfest ("autumn, harvest-time; August"), from Proto-Germanic *harbistaz ("autumn, fall"), from Proto-Indo-European *kerp-, *skerp-; cognate with West Frisian hjerst, Dutch herfst, German Herbst, Middle Low German hervest ("autumn") (Dutch Low Saxon haarfst ("autumn")), Danish høst, also Latin carpere 'to seize', Greek καρπός (karpos, "fruit") and κείρω (keirō, "to cut off").

    Full definition of harvest

    Noun

    harvest

    (plural harvests)
    1. (UK dialectal) The third season of the year; autumn; fall.
    2. The season of gathering ripened crops; specifically, the time of reaping and gathering grain.
    3. The process of harvesting, gathering the ripened crop.
    4. The yield of harvesting, i.e. the gathered crops or fruits.This year's cotton harvest was great but the corn harvest was disastrous.
      • ShakespeareTo glean the broken ears after the man
        That the main harvest reaps.
    5. (by extension) The product or result of any exertion or labor; gain; reward.
      • FullerThe pope's principal harvest was in the jubilee.
      • Wordsworththe harvest of a quiet eye
    6. (paganism) A modern pagan ceremony held on or around the autumn equinox, which is in the harvesting season.
      • 1907, w, The Dust of Conflict Chapter 20, Hester Earle and Violet Wayne were moving about the aisle with bundles of wheat-ears and streamers of ivy, for the harvest thanksgiving was shortly to be celebrated, while the vicar stood waiting for their directions on the chancel steps with a great handful of crimson gladioli.

    Synonyms

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To bring in a harvest; reap; glean.
    2. (intransitive) To be occupied bringing in a harvest''Harvesting is a stressing, thirsty occupation
    3. (transitive) To win, achieve a gain.''The rising star harvested well-deserved acclaim, even an Oscar under 21
    © Wiktionary