# haven

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈheɪvən/ · frequency rank #5,797

## Definitions
1. A harbour or anchorage protected from the sea.
2. A safe place.
3. A peaceful or tranquil place.

## Etymology
From Middle English haven, havene, from Old English hæfen (“haven; harbour; port”), from Proto-West Germanic *habanu, from Proto-Germanic *habnō, *habanō (compare Dutch haven, German Hafen, Norwegian/Danish havn, Swedish hamn, French havre), from Proto-Germanic *habą (“sea”) (compare Old English hæf, Middle Low German haf, Old Norse haf (“sea”), German Haff (“bay or lagoon behind a spit”), perhaps, in the sense of "heaving sea", etymologically identical with Old Norse haf (“heaving, lifting, uplift, elevation”), derived from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to lift, heave”)), or from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂pnós (compare Old Irish cúan (“harbor, recess, haven”)). Doublet of abra.

## Easily confused with
- **hen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-hen)
- **hive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-hive)
- **haze** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-haze)
- **hove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-hove)
- **haye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-haye)
- **Helen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-helen)
- **Hayes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-hayes)
- **hazel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-hazel)
- **havoc** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-havoc)
- **hover** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-hover)
- **hives** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-hives)
- **haves** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-haves)
- **heave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-heave)
- **Haydn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-haydn)
- **Hawes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-hawes)
- **Havre** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-havre)
- **hsien** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-hsien)
- **hymen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-hymen)
- **having** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-having)
- **heaven** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haven-vs-heaven)

## Common misspellings (7)
`ahven`, `haevn`, `havenn`, `havne`, `havven`, `hhaven`, `hvaen`

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