Hessian

//ˈhɛsiən// adj, name, noun

adj, name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A native or inhabitant of the state of Hesse, Germany. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A strong, coarse fabric made from hemp or jute, often used for making sacks. British, countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    (19th century) a man's high tasseled boot wordnet
  4. 4
    A mercenary soldier, especially a German one who fought with the British in the American Revolutionary War. countable, historical, uncountable
  5. 5
    Ellipsis of Hessian boot. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    Ellipsis of Hessian cloth or Hessian fabric (“burlap, jute”). British, abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
  2. 7
    Ellipsis of Hessian matrix. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
Adjective
  1. 1
    Of, from or relating to the state of Hesse, Germany.
  2. 2
    Of or relating to the German mathematician Otto Hesse (1811–1874).

    "Hessian line; Hessian point; Hessian matrix"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The Rhine Franconian dialect spoken in Hesse.

Synonyms

All synonyms
burlapcorduroycottonfabricfeedsackfloursack

Example

More examples

"Goethe's last words were not "more light!" but what he had in mind was to say "Mer licht hier net guud." In Hessian this means "it isn't very suitable in here.""

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Hesse + -ian. Doublet of hessian.

Etymology 2

See Hessian. Attributed to the historic use of the fabric as part of the uniform of soldiers from the former Landgraviate of Hesse and its successors, who were called Hessians.

Related phrases

Hessian bootHessian clothHessian crucibleHessian fabricHessian flyHessian matrixhessian matrix

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.