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Added 9 October 2026

have

/ˈhæv/ verb

In Latin: habeō, teneo, possideo Wiktionary

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

To possess, own.
I have a house and a car.
To hold, as something at someone's disposal.
Look what I have here—a frog I found on the street!
To include as a part, ingredient, or feature.
The stove has a handle. The shirt has sleeves.

noun

A wealthy or privileged person.
One who has some (contextually specified) thing.

noun

A fraud or deception; something misleading.
They advertise it as a great deal, but I think it's a bit of a have.

noun

A hawthorn.

Origin

From Middle English haven, from Old English habban (“to have”), from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to have”), durative of *habjaną (“to lift, take up”), from Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti, an imperfective formation to the root *kap- (“to take, seize, catch”). Related to heave. Since there is no common Indo-European root for a transitive possessive verb have (notice that Latin habeō is not etymologically related to English have), Proto-Indo-European probably lacked the have structure. Instead, the third person forms of be were used, with the possessor in dative case, compare Latin mihi est / sunt, literally to me is / are.

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

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