haven

Etymology

From Middle English haven, havene, from Old English hæfen (“haven; harbour; port”), from Proto-Germanic *habnō, *habanō (compare Dutch haven, German Hafen, Norwegian/Danish havn), from Proto-Germanic *habą (“sea”) (compare Old English hæf, Middle Low German haf, Old Norse haf (“sea”), German Haff (“bay or lagoon behind a spit”), perhaps, in the sense of "heaving sea", etymologically identical with Old Norse haf (“heaving, lifting, uplift, elevation”), derived from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to lift, heave”)), or from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂pnós (compare Old Irish cúan (“harbor, recess, haven”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈheɪvən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪvən

Noun

haven (plural havens)

1. A harbour or anchorage protected from the sea.
   • Shakespeare

     what shipping and what lading's in our haven

   • Tennyson

     their haven under the hill

2. (by extension) A place of safety; a refuge or sanctuary.
   • 2011 December 21, Helen Pidd, “Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis”, in the Guardian‎:

     Since its conception, the European Union has been a haven for those seeking refuge from war, persecution and poverty in other parts of the world.

3. (by extension) A peaceful place.

Verb

haven (third-person singular simple present havens, present participle havening, simple past and past participle havened)

1. To put into, or provide with a haven.

Anagrams

• heav'n, nevah

Noun

haven c

1. singular definite of have

Etymology

From Middle Dutch havene, from Old Dutch *havana, from Proto-Germanic *habnō, *habanō.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aːvən
• IPA^(key): /ˈɦaːvə(n)/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

haven f (plural havens, diminutive haventje n)

1. harbour
2. port

Etymology

From Old English habban, hafian.

Verb

haven

1. to have

Noun

haven

1. definite plural of hav

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *habnō, *habanō.

Noun

haven c (plural havens, diminutive haventsje)

1. harbour
2. haven, refuge