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Haunt

//hɔːnt// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    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."

  2. 2
    a frequently visited place wordnet
  3. 3
    A ghost. dialectal
  4. 4
    A lair or feeding place of animals.

    "The lofty mountains roſe faint to the ſight and loſt their foreheads in the diſtant ſkies: the little hills, cloathed in darker green and ſkirted with embroidered vales, diſcovered the ſecret haunts of kids and bounding roes."

Verb
  1. 1
    To inhabit or to visit frequently (most often used in reference to ghosts). transitive

    "A couple of ghosts haunt the old, burnt-down house."

  2. 2
    haunt like a ghost; pursue wordnet
  3. 3
    To make uneasy, restless. transitive

    "The memory of his past failures haunted him."

  4. 4
    be a regular or frequent visitor to a certain place wordnet
  5. 5
    To stalk; to follow. transitive

    "The policeman haunted him, following him everywhere."

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    follow stealthily or recur constantly and spontaneously to wordnet
  2. 7
    To live habitually; to stay, to remain. archaic, intransitive

    "Ieſus therfore walked no more openly amõge the iewes : butt went his waye thence vnto a countre ny to a wildernes into a cite called effraym / and there haunted with his diſciples."

  3. 8
    To accustom; habituate; make accustomed to. Northern-England, Scotland, UK, dialectal, transitive

    "[…]haunte thi silf to pite [or pitee]."

  4. 9
    To practise; to devote oneself to. Northern-England, Scotland, UK, dialectal, transitive

    "Leave honest pleasure, and haunt no good pastime."

  5. 10
    To persist in staying or visiting. intransitive

    "I haue charg’d thee not to haunt about my doores:[…]"

Etymology

Etymology 1

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. Another descendant from the French is Dutch hanteren, whence German hantieren, Swedish hantera, Danish håndtere. More at home.

Etymology 2

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. Another descendant from the French is Dutch hanteren, whence German hantieren, Swedish hantera, Danish håndtere. More at home.

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