haver - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Borrowed from Scots haiver.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈheɪvə/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈheːvəɹ/
• Hyphenation: ha‧ver
• Rhymes: -eɪvə(ɹ)

haver (third-person singular simple present havers, present participle havering, simple past and past participle havered)

1. (British) To hem and haw.
2. (Scotland) To talk foolishly; to chatter.

   Synonyms: babble, haiver, maunder

   • 1897, Stanley John Weyman, chapter XIV, in Shrewsbury:

     To business, and no more havers.

   • 2004, James Campbell, “Boswell and Mrs. Miller”, in Wendy Lesser, editor, The Genius of Language, page 194:

     She havers on about her "faither" and "mirra" and the "wee wean," her child, and "hoo i wiz glaiket but bonny forby."

Borrowed from Scots haver, from Middle English haver, from Old Norse hafri (“oat, oats”), from Proto-Germanic *habrô (“oat, oats”), from Proto-Indo-European *kapro- (“goat”). Cognate with Dutch haver (“oats”) and German Hafer (“oat”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈheɪvə/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈheːvəɹ/
• (Cumbria, Yorkshire) IPA^(key): /ˈavə/

  1994, Clive Upton, David Parry, J.D.A. Widdowson, 'Survey of English Dialects: The Dictionary and Grammar., London: Routledge, page 196:

• Rhymes: -eɪvə(ɹ)

haver (plural havers)

1. (UK, Scotland, dialect) Oats (the cereal).

• haver bread
• haver-grass

• haversack

From Middle English haver, havere, equivalent to have +‎ -er.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhævɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhævə/

haver (plural havers)

1. One who has something (in various senses).

   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

     It is held / That valour is the chiefest virtue, and / Most dignifies the haver: if it be, / The man I speak of cannot in the world / Be singly counterpoised.

   • 2012, Robert Kurzban, Why Everyone (Else) is a Hypocrite, page 186:

     Because abortion would no longer be an issue (except, again, in the case of criminal sex-havers), Democrats and republicans would stop fighting […]

   • 2018 July 23, Katy Waldman, “A Sociologist Examines the "White Fragility" That Prevents White Americans from Confronting Racism”, in New Yorker‎^[1]:

     Yet, DiAngelo writes, white people cling to the notion of racial innocence, a form of weaponized denial that positions black people as the "havers" of race and the guardians of racial knowledge.

   • 2022 December 2, Tessa Flores, “What Our Shopping Editors Are Buying From Sephora's Holiday Sale”, in Huffington Post‎^[2]:

     As a haver of eczema and chronically parched skin, I know I can always return to this nourishing formula that uses soothing colloidal oatmeal and allantoin as well as shea butter which works to protect the skin barrier.

2. (law, Scotland) The person who has custody of a document.

• holder
• possessor

From Hebrew חבר.

haver (plural haverim)

1. Alternative form of chaver

• Havre

• heure
• haure (Western)

Inherited from Old Catalan haver, from Latin habēre (“have, hold, possess”), probably from a Proto-Italic *habēō or *haβēō, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰ- (“to grab, to take”).

• IPA^(key): (Central) [əˈβɛ]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [əˈvə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aˈveɾ]

haver (first-person singular present he, first-person singular preterite haguí, past participle hagut); root stress: (Central) /ɛ/; (Valencia) /e/; (Balearic) /ə/ (as auxiliary)
haver (first-person singular present hec or hac, first-person singular preterite haguí, past participle hagut); root stress: (Central) /ɛ/; (Valencia) /e/; (Balearic) /ə/ (as full verb)

1. (auxiliary) auxiliary verb to form compound tenses or perfect tenses, together with a past participle

   ho he fet jo

   I have done it

2. (archaic) to have, to posess

   • 1399, Bernat Metge, Lo Somni:

     Pots haver clara conexença de què és purgatori.

     You can have clear understanding of what Purgatorium is.

as auxiliary

as full verb

• haver-hi
• haver de
• havedor
• temps ha

haver m (plural havers)

1. a possession
2. a credit

• “haver” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “haver”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “haver” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “haver” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

haver c

1. indefinite plural of have

• IPA^(key): /ˈɦaː.vər/
• Rhymes: -aːvər

From Middle Dutch havere, from Old Dutch *havara, from Proto-West Germanic *habrō, from Proto-Germanic *habrô. Cognate with Old Norse hafri, Old English haver, Old High German habaro.

haver m (uncountable, diminutive havertje n)

1. any wild species or cultivar of the genus Avena
2. (particularly) Avena sativa, the cereal oat

(general):

(varieties of oat and plant species resembling or named after oat):

• Afrikaans: hawer
• Jersey Dutch: hâver
• →⇒ English: haversack
• → Papiamentu: haver
• → West Frisian: haver (dialectal)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

haver

1. inflection of haveren:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

haver (first-person singular present hei, first-person singular preterite houvem or houve, past participle havido, reintegrationist norm)

1. reintegrationist spelling of haber

• reaver

• “haver” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).

Borrowed from Yiddish חבֿר (khaver), from Hebrew חבר (khaver, “friend”).^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈhɒvɛr]
• Hyphenation: ha‧ver
• Rhymes: -ɛr

haver (plural haverok)

1. (slang) pal, buddy, dude

   Synonyms: barát, cimbora, pajtás

2. (derogatory) accomplice (partner in crime)

   Synonyms: cinkostárs, bűntárs

• haver in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• haver in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

haver (apocopated)

1. Apocopic form of havere

   • 1353, Giovanni Boccaccio, “Proemio [Introduction]”, in Decamerone [Decameron]‎^[3], Tommaso Hedlin, published 1527, page xviii:

     Humana coſa è haver compaſſione de gli afflitti

     It is human to have compassion for the troubled

From Hebrew חבר (khavér).

haver m (Hebrew spelling חאב׳יר, plural haverim)

1. partner, comrade, associate

• Aitor García Moreno, editor (2013–), “ḥaƀer”, in Diccionario Histórico Judeoespañol (in Spanish), CSIC
• Joseph Nehama, Jesús Cantera (1977) “javér”, in Dictionnaire du Judéo-Espagnol (in French), Madrid: CSIC, →ISBN, page 253
• Elli Kohen & Dahlia Kohen-Gordon (2000) “haver”, in Ladino–English Concise Encyclopedic Dictionary, Hippocrene Books, →ISBN, page 193

• (Galicia) IPA^(key): /aˈβeɾ/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /aˈβeɾ/, /aˈveɾ/

haver

1. Alternative spelling of aver

• aver (obsolete)

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese aver, from Latin habēre (“to have, to hold, to possess”). Compare Galician haber. Cognate of Spanish haber, French avoir, and Italian avere.

• (Northeast Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.ˈve(h)/
• Homophone: a ver
• Hyphenation: ha‧ver

haver (first-person singular present hei, first-person singular preterite houve, past participle havido)

2. (auxiliary) have; forms the perfect aspect [with masculine singular past participle]
   2. (formal, in the past tense) forms the past perfect

      Synonym: ter

      Eu já havia entrado quando chegaste.

      I had already gotten in when you arrived.

   4. (in the present tense, archaic) forms the present perfect

      Hei estudado muito, nos últimos dias.

      I have been studying much, in these last days.

4. (auxiliary, with de + infinitive) See haver de.
6. (impersonal, transitive) there be; exist

   Synonym: (Brazil, Angola) ter

   Há um banco aqui perto.

   There is a bank nearby.

8. (impersonal, transitive) there be; to happen; to occur

   Houve um acidente na alameda.

   There was an accident in the avenue.

10. (archaic, transitive) to have; to own; to possess

    Hei duas espadas.

    I have two swords.

12. (Brazil, transitive) to recover; to regain (to obtain something that had been lost)

    Synonym: reaver

    Preciso de haver meu dinheiro.

    I need to recover my money.

14. (pronominal) to behave (to conduct oneself well, on in a given manner)
16. (impersonal, transitive) it has been ... since; ago (indicates the time since something occurred)

    Terminei a faculdade há um mês.

    It has been one month since I’ve finished college ~ I finished college one month ago.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:haver.

• (shall): ir
• (form the perfect tense): ter
• (to exist): existir, ter (Brazil)
• (to happen): acontecer, ocorrer, produzir-se, realizar-se, sobrevir, suceder
• (to own): deter, possuir, ter
• (to regain): reaver, recuperar
• (it has been ... since): fazer

• (antonym(s) of “to exist”): inexistir

haver m (plural haveres)

1. credit
2. (in the plural) belongings
3. (in the plural) assets

• avair (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader)
• adaver, aver, ver (Sutsilvan)

From Latin habēre (“have, hold, possess”).

haver

1. (Sursilvan) to have

From Middle English haver, from Old Norse hafri (“oat, oats”), from Proto-Germanic *habrô (“oat, oats”), from Proto-Indo-European *kapro- (“goat”).

haver (uncountable)

1. oats

• havermeal (“oatmeal, half-ground meal”)
• haverpoke (“horse's nosebag”)

• → English: haver

haver (third-person singular simple present havers, present participle haverin, simple past havert, past participle havert)

1. Alternative form of haiver

haver

1. has, have; present indicative of hava, an older form of har

• havre