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harbor

har·bor/ˈhɑɹbɚ/noun, verb

harbor is spelled H-A-R-B-O-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables (har·bor). It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,595th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, harbor means “Any place of shelter” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of harbor is harbors.

How many letters and syllables are in harbor?

Letters6: H-A-R-B-O-R
Syllables2: har·bor
In writing14 times per million words; the 5,595th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is harbor?

Harbor appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,595th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce harbor?

  • UK /ˈhɑːbə/
  • US /ˈhɑɹbɚ/

Harbor has 2 syllables, split har·bor in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-harbour.wav, En-us-harbor.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with harbor?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as harbor from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹbəɹ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of harbor

  • harbors plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • harbour
  • harboring participle, present
  • harbored participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does harbor mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    USAny place of shelter.

    The neighborhood is a well-known harbor for petty thieves.

  2. 2

    USA sheltered expanse of water, adjacent to land, in which ships may anchor or dock, especially for loading and unloading.

  3. 3

    USA mixing box for materials.

  4. 4

    USobsoleteA house of the zodiac, or the mansion of a heavenly body.

  5. 5

    USobsoleteShelter, refuge.

verb

  1. 1

    USTo provide a harbor or safe place for.

    The docks, which once harbored tall ships, now harbor only petty thieves.

  2. 2

    USTo take refuge or shelter in a protected expanse of water.

    The fleet harbored in the south.

  3. 3

    USTo drive (a hunted stag) to covert.

  4. 4

    USTo hold or persistently entertain in one's thoughts or mind.

    She harbors a conviction that her husband has a secret, criminal past.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Harbor in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchhavre, rade, refuge (place of shelter), port, quai (for ships), abriter (to provide safe place)
Portuguesealbergue (place of shelter), porto, cais (for ships), abrigar (to provide safe place)
Spanishpuerto, refugio (place of shelter), cobijar, albergar (to provide safe place)
GermanHafen (for ships), hegen (to hold in one's thoughts)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does harbor come from?

From Middle English herberwe, herber, from Old English herebeorg (“shelter, lodgings, quarters”), from Proto-West Germanic *harjabergu (“army shelter, refuge”), from *harjaz (“army”) + *bergō (“protection”), equivalent to Old English here (“army, host”) + beorg (“defense, protection, refuge”). The final syllable was subsequently altered by analogy with the Anglo‐Norman and Old French suffix -or (as seen in loanwords like honour and labour). Doublet of albergo and auberge. See also borrow, bury, harbinger, harry and here.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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