Meaning
A derisive cry or shout.
Etymology
Origin: Middle English
From Middle English houten, huten, hoten, assumed to be of North Germanic origin: Swedish hut! (“begone!”, interjection) (also dialectal Norwegian hut, Bornholm Danish hut, hot), Swedish huta (“to drive someone away (with calls)”), Old Swedish huta (“to cast out in contempt”), related to Swedish hojta (“to holler”), hojt (“a holler”), further related to Middle High German hiuzen, hūzen (“to call to pursuit”). Swedish hut is the common command to call off and silence barking (hunting) dogs on the pursuit. Compare Swedish veta hut (“know one's place, like a dog”, literally “to know 'hoot' (the command)”). The Middle High German terms could suggest an earlier Proto-Germanic (hunting dog command?) *hūt- (“to command barking en pursuit?”). Maybe cognate to shout? Ultimately onomatopoeic. Compare Old Norse hutututu (“brr”), Norwegian hutra, Swedish huttra, huttla, Danish hudre, Low German hudern, German huttern (“to shiver”). Further compare English hoy, Dutch hui, Low German hoi, Norwegian hoi, Swedish hoj, Danish hoj, huj (“ho, hallo”).
Synonyms & Antonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 43 recorded puzzles:
- 2026-08-29TADHINO
- 2026-08-09HACELOT
- 2026-07-30HEGNOTU
- 2026-07-26OACHILT
- 2026-05-22OATHINL
- 2026-04-08TANHBIO
- 2026-02-10HBINORT
- 2026-02-05ODNIHTM
- 2026-01-29TEOHGLY
- 2025-12-16TWARNHO
- 2025-09-14OAEPHTD
- 2025-08-25TAOHGLU
+31 earlier appearances in the archive.