hoar frost
nounEtymology
PIE word *prustós From Middle English hore frost, horfrost [and other forms], from hor (“grey; greyish-white”, adjective) (from Old English hār (“grey”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- (“darkness; shadow”)) + frost (“cold spell, freezing weather, frost; hoar-frost; rime”) (from Old English frost, forst, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *prustós (“frost”)). The English word is analysable as hoar (“greyish-white; white”, adjective) + frost.
- inherited from frost
- inherited from hore frost
Definitions
Originally, any frozen dew forming a white deposit on exposed surfaces.
- He [the Lord] geueth ſnowe like woll, & ſcatereth yͤ horefroſt like aſhes.
- And novv the mounting ſun diſpels the fog; / The rigid hoar-froſt melts before his beam; […]
Water vapour which has undergone deposition or desublimation (“transformation directly…
Water vapour which has undergone deposition or desublimation (“transformation directly into ice crystals without first turning into liquid water”) when the air is cold and moist to form a white deposit on exposed surfaces.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for hoar frost. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA