have

verbbe in possession
verbendure, bear
verbcontain
verbcheat, trick
verbbring into the world

Synonyms for have

verb be in possession

Antonyms for have

Word Origin & History

Old English habban "to own, possess; be subject to, experience," from Proto-Germanic *haben- (cf. Old Norse hafa, Old Saxon hebbjan, Old Frisian habba, German haben, Gothic haban "to have"), from PIE *kap- "to grasp" (see capable). Not related to Latin habere, despite similarity in form and sense; the Latin cognate is capere "seize." Old English second person singular present hæfst, third person singular present hæfð became Middle English hast, hath, while Old English -bb- became -v- in have. The past participle had developed from Old English gehæfd.

Sense of "possess, have at one's disposal" (I have a book) is a shift from older languages, where the thing possessed was made the subject and the possessor took the dative case (e.g. Latin est mihi liber "I have a book," literally "there is to me a book"). Used as an auxiliary in Old English, too (especially to form present perfect tense); the word has taken on more functions over time; Modern English he had better would have been Old English him (dative) wære betere. To have to for "must" (1570s) is from sense of "possess as a duty or thing to be done" (Old English). Phrase have a nice day as a salutation after a commercial transaction attested by 1970, American English. Phrase have (noun), will (verb) is from 1954, originally from comedian Bob Hope, in the form Have tux, will travel; Hope described this as typical of vaudevillians' ads in "Variety," indicating a willingness to perform anywhere, any time.

have

Synonyms for have

Antonyms for have

OK'd

acquire

acquiring

apprehend

bear

have

Synonyms for have

Antonyms for have

More words related to have

OK

OK'd

acquire

acquiring

apprehend

bear