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Origin and history of hardy

hardy(adj.)

c. 1200, "bold, daring, fearless," also "presumptuous, audacious," from Old French hardi "bold, brave, courageous; confident, presumptuous," from past participle of hardir "to harden, be or make bold," from Frankish *hardjan "to make hard" (source also of Old Frisian herda, Old High German herten, Old Norse herða, Gothic gahardjan "make hard"), from Proto-Germanic *hardu- (from PIE root *kar- "hard"). Sense influenced by English hard. Of plants, "able to survive in the open year-round," 1660s. Related: Hardily; hardiness. Hardhede "physical hardiness" is attested from early 15c.

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to hardy

foolhardy(adj.)

also fool-hardy, mid-13c., folhardi, from fol "fool" (see fool (n.1) + hardi "bold" (see hardy) hence "foolishly brave, bold without judgment or moderation." Compare Old French fol hardi. Related: foolhardiness (mid-13c.); Middle English had also as a noun foolhardiment (mid-15c.).

hardihood(n.)

"quality or condition of being hardy," 1630s, from hardy + -hood.

*kar-

also *ker-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "hard."

It might form all or part of: -ard; Bernard; cancer; canker; carcinogen; carcinoma; careen; chancre; -cracy; Gerard; hard; hardly; hardy; Leonard; Richard; standard.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit karkatah "crab," karkarah "hard;" Greek kratos "strength," kratys "strong;" "hard;" Old English heard, German hart "solid and firm, not soft."

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    Trends of hardy

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    audacious
    1540s, "confident, intrepid, daring," from French audacieux, from audace "boldness," from Latin audacia "daring, boldness, courage," from audax "brave, bold, daring," but more often "bold" in a bad sense, "rash, foolhardy," from audere "to dare, be bold," which de Vaan says is de
    brave
    "exhibiting courage or courageous endurance," late 15c., from French brave, "splendid, valiant," from Italian bravo "brave, bold," originally "wild, savage," a word of uncertain origin. Possibly from Medieval Latin bravus "cutthroat, villain," from Latin pravus "crooked, depraved
    stalwart
    late 14c., of persons, "resolute, determined," a Scottish variant of Middle English stalworth, "physically strong, powerful," also "brave, courageous, valiant," which is from Old English stælwierðe "good, serviceable." This probably is a contracted compound of staðol "base, found
    soap opera
    Those hardy denizens of the NBC press department have a new title for their daily script shows—they call them "soap operas...
    virtuous
    c. 1300, "characterized by vigor or strength; having qualities befitting a knight; valiant, hardy, courageous;" from Old...
    thrush
    [Hardy, "The Darkling Thrush," Dec. 31, 1900]...
    madding
    principally in the phrase far from the madding crowd, title of the popular 1874 novel of love and betrayal in rural England by Hardy...
    stout
    c. 1300, stoute, "valiant, brave," also "proud, haughty; skilled in battle; fierce, cruel," senses now obsolete, from Old French estout "brave, fierce, proud," earlier estolt "strong," from a Germanic source from West Germanic *stult- "proud, stately, strutting" (source also of M
    hydra
    name of the many-headed Lernaean water serpent slain by Herakles in Greek mythology, late 14c., idre, from Greek Hydra, fem. of hydros "water-snake," from hydor "water" (from suffixed form of PIE root *wed- (1) "water; wet"). The word is etymologically related to Sanskrit udrah "
    hard
    Old English heard "solid and firm, not soft," also, "difficult to endure, carried on with great exertion," also, of persons, "severe, rigorous, harsh, cruel," from Proto-Germanic *hardu- (source also of Old Saxon hard, Old Frisian herd, Dutch hard, Old Norse harðr "hard," Old Hig

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