# hate

> English word · Noun · IPA /heʔ/ · frequency rank #807

## Definitions
1. An object of hatred.
2. Hatred.
3. Negative feedback, abusive behaviour.
4. Bigotry.

## Etymology
From Middle English hate (noun), probably from Old English hatian (“to hate”, verb) and/or Old Norse hatr (“hate”, noun). Merged with Middle English hete, hæte, heate (“hate”), from Old English hete, from Proto-Germanic *hataz (“hatred, hate”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂d- (“strong emotion”).
Cognate with Dutch haat (“hatred”), German Hass, Haß (“hate, hatred”), Luxembourgish Haass (“hate, hatred”), Vilamovian hās (“hate, hatred”), Yiddish האַס (has, “hatred”), Danish had (“hate, hatred”), Faroese, Icelandic hatur (“hatred, spite, aversion”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish hat (“hate, hatred”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍄𐌹𐍃 (hatis, “hate, wrath”).
The verb is from Middle English haten, from Old English hatian (“to hate, treat as an enemy”), from Proto-West Germanic *hatēn, from Proto-Germanic *hatāną (“to hate”), from Proto-Germanic *hataz, from the same root as above.

## Easily confused with
- **he** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-he)
- **hit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hit)
- **hot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hot)
- **hay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hay)
- **hut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hut)
- **hee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hee)
- **hue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hue)
- **hoe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hoe)
- **hye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hye)
- **het** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-het)
- **haw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-haw)
- **hav** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hav)
- **hse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hse)
- **HRT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hrt)
- **HTS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hts)
- **have** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-have)
- **here** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-here)
- **home** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-home)
- **hope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-hope)
- **huge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hate-vs-huge)

## Common misspellings (5)
`ahte`, `haet`, `hatte`, `hhate`, `htae`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hate