Etymograph

English

halyard

Halyard comes from Middle English halier ‘carrier, porter’, and goes back to halen ‘to haul’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500halen1‘to haul’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500halier1‘carrier, porter’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1881–1882halyard1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English halyard
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island: “At last I got my knife and cut the…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500halenWiktionary, English halyard‘to haul’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500halierWiktionary, English halyard‘carrier, porter’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1881–1882halyardWiktionary, English halyard. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island: “At last I got my knife and cut the…”

Linked words

through Middle English halen ‘to haul’

haul, hale

Today it means

noun A rope used to raise or lower a sail, flag, spar or yard.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “halyard”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English halen / halyard

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