have
n. countablen. someone who has a lot of money or possessions. It is usually used in the plural to talk about the gap between rich and poor people.
n. a person who possesses significant wealth or material resources. Almost exclusively used in the plural form within the fixed expression 'the haves and the have-nots'.
The gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing.
In many developing economies, the divide between the urban haves and the rural poor remains a significant political challenge.
Sociologists often examine how the haves maintain their social status through exclusive networks and private education while the rest of the population struggles for basic mobility.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kap-der. Proto-Germanic *habjaną Proto-West Germanic *habbjan Old English habban Middle English haven English have From Middle English haven, from Old English habban (“to have”), from Proto-West Germanic habbjan, from Proto-Germanic habjaną (“to have”), durative of habjaną (“to lift, take up”), from Proto-Indo-European kh₂pyéti, present tense of *kap- (“to take, seize, catch”). Related to heave. Since there is no common Indo-European root for a transitive possessive verb have (notice that Latin habeō is not etymologically related to English have), Proto-Indo-European probably lacked the have structure. Instead, the third person forms of be were used, with the possessor in dative case, compare Latin mihi est / sunt, literally to me is / are. Cognates Cognate with Scots hae (“to have”), North Frisian haa, heewe (“to have”), Saterland Frisian häbe, hääbe (“to have”), West Frisian hawwe (“to have”), Afrikaans hê (“to have”), Alemannic German haa, heen, hoh, hä, häbä, hè (“to have”), Bavarian hobm, hobn, hoom, håbn (“to have”), Cimbrian haban, hen, håm (“to have”), Dutch, Low German hebben (“to have”), German haben (“to have”), Limburgish haane, höbbe (“to have”), Luxembourgish hunn (“to have”), Mòcheno hom (“to have”), Vilamovian hon (“to have”), Yiddish האָבן (hobn, “to have”), Danish have (“to have”), Elfdalian åvå (“to have”), Faroese hava (“to have”), Icelandic hafa (“to have”), Norwegian Bokmål ha (“to have”), Norwegian Nynorsk ha, hava, have, hå (“to have”), Swedish ha, hafva, hava (“to have”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (haban, “to have”), Albanian kap (“to grab, catch, grip”), Latin capiō (“take”, verb), Russian хапать (xapatʹ, “to seize”).
From have on (“to deceive”).
Usually plural; almost always appears in the idiomatic phrase 'the haves and the have-nots' to describe social inequality.