Meaning
State; order, estate, rank, degree, or quality.
Etymology
Origin: Old English
From Middle English hade, had, hod, hed, from Old English hād (“person, individual, character, individuality, degree, rank, order, office, holy office, condition, state, nature, character, form, manner, sex, race, family, tribe, choir”), from Proto-West Germanic *haidu, from Proto-Germanic *haiduz (“appearance, kind”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kāy- (“light, bright, shining”). Cognate with Old Saxon hēd (“condition, rank”), Old High German heit (“person, personality, sex, condition, quality, rank”), Old Norse heiðr ("honour, dignity") (whence Danish hæder (“honour”), Swedish heder (“honour”)), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍃 (haidus, “way, manner”). Same as -hood.
NYT Puzzle Appearances
No published puzzle dates on file for this word yet. It is part of the official NYT Spelling Bee word list for 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.