Hurt

Pronunciation

RP IPA: /hÉœËt/
GenAm IPA: /hÉt/
Rhymes: -ÉœË(É¹)t

Origin

From Middle English hurten, hirten, hertan ("to injure, scathe, knock together"), from Anglo-Norman hurter ("to ram into, strike, collide with"), from Old French (French heurter).

cognates and alternative etymology

(compare French heurter ("to knock against, oppose")), ultimately from Old Norse hrÃºtr ("ram (male sheep)"), lengthened-grade variant of hjÇ«rtr ("stag"),

D.Q. Adams, Encyclopeida of Indo-European Culture, s.v. "horn" (London: Fitzroy-Dearborn, 1999), 273.

from Proto-Germanic *herutuz, *herutaz ("hart, male deer"). More at hart.

Old French also gave Middle High German hurten and Dutch horten.

Alternate etymology traces Middle English hurten, hirten, hertan to Old Northern French hurter ("to ram into, strike, collide with"), from Old Frankish *hÅ«rt ("battering ram"), from Proto-Germanic *hrÅ«tanÄ… ("to fall, beat"), from Proto-Indo-European *krow- ("to fall, beat, break"), related to Dutch horten ("to push against, strike"), Middle Low German hurten ("to run at, collide with"), Old Norse hrÅ«tr ("battering ram").

Full definition of hurt

Verb

(intransitive) To be painful.Does your leg still hurt?
It is starting to feel better.
(transitive) To cause (a creature) physical pain and/or injury.If anybody hurts my little brother I will get upset.
(transitive) To cause (somebody) emotional pain.
(transitive) To undermine, impede, or damage.This latest gaffe hurts the MP's reelection prospects still further.