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Added 8 October 2026

haunt

/hɔːnt/ verb

In Latin: assum, frequentō, ambitō Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about haunt at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To inhabit or to visit frequently (most often used in reference to ghosts).
A couple of ghosts haunt the old, burnt-down house.
To make uneasy, restless.
The memory of his past failures haunted him.
To stalk; to follow.
The policeman haunted him, following him everywhere.

noun

A place at which one is regularly found; a habitation or hangout.
The shopping mall is a popular haunt of the local teenagers in this town.
A ghost.
A lair or feeding place of animals in the wild.

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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