Harold
name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Acronym of hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable
- 1 A male given name from Old English or Old Norse.
"For I have heard the Steers / Had land in Saxon times; and your own name / Of Harold sounds so English and so old / I am sure you must be proud of it."
- 2 A particular format of improvised theatre, in which characters and themes are introduced and then recur in a series of connected scenes.
Example
More examples"After his wife left him, Harold went nuts."
Etymology
From a merger of Old English Hereweald and Old English Harold (itself from Old Norse Haraldr), both from Proto-Germanic *Harjawaldaz, from *harjaz (“army”) + *waldaz (“ruler, authority”). Related to Walter, which has the elements reversed. Cognate with Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish Harald, Faroese and Icelandic Haraldur.
First performed by The Committee, a San Francisco improv group, in 1967. The name is said to have been jokingly suggested by one of the audience.
Modelled on the name Harold.
Related phrases
More for "harold"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.