Etymograph

English

hangar

Hangar comes from French hangar ‘shed, hangar’, from Middle French hanghart ‘enclosure near a house’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰerdʰ-1‘enclosure, fence, belt’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Frankishc. 250–700*haimgard1‘fence around a group of houses’reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400hangart1
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600hanghart1‘enclosure near a house’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presenthangar1‘shed, hangar’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1919hangar1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English hangar
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth: “By the side of it ran an open hangar…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰerdʰ-Wiktionary, English hangar‘enclosure, fence, belt’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Frankishc. 250–700*haimgardWiktionary, English hangar‘fence around a group of houses’reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400hangartWiktionary, English hangar
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600hanghartWiktionary, English hangar‘enclosure near a house’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presenthangarWiktionary, English hangar‘shed, hangar’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1919hangarWiktionary, English hangar. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth: “By the side of it ran an open hangar…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- ‘enclosure, fence, belt’

urban, garden, yard, girth, girdle, garth, jardin, gord, gird, 10 more

Today it means

noun A large garagelike structure where aircraft are kept.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hangar”. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- / hangar

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