entry
hide
/haɪd/Conceal; or animal skin
From O.English / West Germanic hide (v.) (to conceal or keep out of sight) + O.English / Germanic hide (n.) (an animal skin or pelt).
from Proto-Indo-European *kéw(H)tis (“skin, hide”) (compare Latin cutis (“skin, rind, hide”))
from Proto-Germanic *huzdijaną (“to hoard”)
from Old English hȳdan (“to hide, conceal, preserve”)
from Middle English hiden, huden
from Proto-Indo-European *kéw(H)tis (“skin, hide”) (compare Latin cutis (“skin, rind, hide”))
from Proto-Germanic *hūdiz
from Old English hȳdan (“to hide, conceal, preserve”)
from Middle English hyde
Word Ancestry
from Proto-Indo-European *kéw(H)tis (“skin, hide”) (compare Latin cutis (“skin, rind, hide”))
from Proto-Germanic *huzdijaną (“to hoard”)
from Old English hȳdan (“to hide, conceal, preserve”)
from Middle English hiden, huden
from Proto-Indo-European *kéw(H)tis (“skin, hide”) (compare Latin cutis (“skin, rind, hide”))
from Proto-Germanic *hūdiz
from Old English hȳdan (“to hide, conceal, preserve”)
from Middle English hyde
Two different old words ended up wearing the same spelling. One is the everyday verb you use when you stash a letter under a mattress; the other is the noun for an animal skin, the sort of thing a tanner would know by smell. In King James English, 1611, you can already see the verb flexing in forms like hid and hidden, while the noun is marching along a completely separate Germanic path. Both families, though, seem to share a prehistoric idea of covering things up — the same deep notion that also turns up in Greek keuthein, “to hide,” and in Latin conceal. So every time you say hide, you’re either talking about secrecy or leather — and English, with a straight face, decided those should look identical.
The Story
Two different old words ended up wearing the same spelling. One is the everyday verb you use when you stash a letter under a mattress; the other is the noun for an animal skin, the sort of thing a tanner would know by smell. In King James English, 1611, you can already see the verb flexing in forms like hid and hidden, while the noun is marching along a completely separate Germanic path. Both families, though, seem to share a prehistoric idea of covering things up — the same deep notion that also turns up in Greek keuthein, “to hide,” and in Latin conceal. So every time you say hide, you’re either talking about secrecy or leather — and English, with a straight face, decided those should look identical.
Modern Usage
A colloquial label in some fan and music communities for the Japanese rock musician Hideto Matsumoto, known as hide.
Popularized by: Music fandoms around X Japan / hide
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries referencing hide as a rock figure
Kin & Kindred
From 'hide (v.)'·to conceal or keep out of sight
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'hide (n.)'·an animal skin or pelt
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary