Word
hath
US/ˈhæθ/
UK/hˈæθ/
Definition
v. an old word for 'has' used in historical writing and the Bible.
v. The archaic third-person singular present indicative of 'have'; now restricted to liturgical, poetic, or historical contexts.
Examples
“The heart hath its reasons which reason knows nothing of.”
“In the classic text, the author writes that every cloud hath a silver lining.”
“The poet suggests that while time hath a way of stealing youth, it cannot diminish the wisdom gained through decades of lived experience.”
Examples
simple
“The heart hath its reasons which reason knows nothing of.”
contextual
“In the classic text, the author writes that every cloud hath a silver lining.”
complex
“The poet suggests that while time hath a way of stealing youth, it cannot diminish the wisdom gained through decades of lived experience.”
Usage
Used with third-person singular subjects like 'he', 'she', 'it', or a singular noun.
Teaching tip
Learners will primarily encounter this in the King James Bible or Shakespeare; they should recognize it but never use it in their own modern production.
Pitfall
He hath a new car.
He has a new car.
Do not use 'hath' in modern conversation or writing; it is only for historical or poetic styles.
Etymology
From Middle English hath, heth, hafth, hefth, from Old English hæfþ, hafaþ (“has”), from Proto-Germanic *habaiþi (“has”), equivalent to have + -th. Cognate with Saterland Frisian häd (“has”), West Frisian hat (“has”), Dutch heeft (“has”), Afrikaans het (“has, have”), German Low German hett (“has”), German hat (“has”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/hath