haunt

== English == === Alternative forms === hant (Scotland) ha'nt, haint, harnt (US, eye dialect) === Etymology === From Middle English haunten (“to reside, inhabit, use, employ”), from Old French hanter (“to inhabit, frequent, resort to”), from Old Northern French hanter (“to go back home, frequent”), from Old Norse heimta (“to bring home, fetch”) or/and from Old English hāmettan (“to bring home; house; cohabit with”); both from Proto-Germanic *haimatjaną (“to house, bring home”), from Proto-Germanic *haimaz (“village, home”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóymos (“village”). Cognate with Old English hǣman (“to cohabit, lie with, marry”); related to Old English hām (“home, village”), Old French hantin (“a stay, a place frequented by”) from the same Germanic source. Another descendant from the French is Dutch hanteren, whence German hantieren, Swedish hantera, Danish håndtere. More at home. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /hɔːnt/, enPR: hônt (US) IPA(key): /hɔnt/, enPR: hônt (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /hɑnt/, enPR: hänt Rhymes: -ɔːnt === Verb === haunt (third-person singular simple present haunts, present participle haunting, simple past and past participle haunted) (transitive) To inhabit or to visit frequently (most often used in reference to ghosts). (transitive) To make uneasy, restless. (transitive) To stalk; to follow. (intransitive, now rare) To live habitually; to stay, to remain. (transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To accustom; habituate; make accustomed to. (transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To practise; to devote oneself to. (intransitive) To persist in staying or visiting. ==== Synonyms ==== (to make uneasy): nag (to live habitually): live, dwell; See also Thesaurus:reside ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Noun === haunt (plural haunts) A place at which one is regularly found; a habitation or hangout. Synonym: repair (dialect) A ghost. Synonym: haint A lair or feeding place of animals. ==== Derived terms ==== home haunt ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === “haunt”, in Collins English Dictionary. John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “haunt”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN. === Anagrams === Utahn, unhat