Harbor Meaning
/ˈhɑːbə/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAny place of shelter.
nounA sheltered expanse of water, adjacent to land, in which ships may anchor or dock, especially for loading and unloading.
Sentence Examples
You will see a forest of masts in the harbor.
Many yachts are in the harbor.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She continued to ____ resentment towards him for years.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The fishing boats returned to the quiet ____ just before the massive storm hit the coast.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English herberwe, herber, from Old English herebeorg (“shelter, lodgings, quarters”), from Proto-West Germanic *harjabergu (“army shelter, refuge”), from *harjaz (“army”) + *bergō (“protection”), equivalent to Old English here (“army, host”) + beorg (“defense, protection, refuge”). The final syllable was subsequently altered by analogy with the Anglo‐Norman and Old French suffix -or (as seen in loanwords like honour and labour). Doublet of albergo and auberge. See also borrow, bury, harbinger, harry and here.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[T]here aboutes dwelt greate multitudes of people half wilde, hiding thẽſelues in caues of the grounde, of ſmall ſtature, and very fearefull, for as ſoone as they ſawe them they fled into their holes, and that there was a great riuer and very good harborough."
— 1582, Nicolas [i.e., Nicolo] Zeno; Antonio Zeno, “The Discouerie of the Isles of Frisland, Iseland, Engroueland, Estotiland, Drogeo and Icaria, Made by M. Nicolas Zeno, Knight, and M. Antonio His Brother”, in R[ichard] H[akluyt], compiler, Divers Voyages Touching the Discouerie of America, and the Ilands adiacent vnto the Same, […], London: […] [Thomas Dawson] for Thomas Woodcocke, […], →OCLC, signatures D4, recto – D4, verso:
"A harbor, even if it is a little harbor, is a good thing, since adventurers come into it as well as go out, and the life in it grows strong, because it takes something from the world and has something to give in return."
— 1881 October, Sarah Orne Jewett, “River Driftwood”, in The Atlantic Monthly, volume 48, number 288, page 510, column 2:
"Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents."
— 2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 193:
"This is the time that the horseman are flung out, not having the cry to lead them to the death. When quadruped animals of the venery or hunting kind are at rest, the stag is said to be harboured, the buck lodged, the fox kennelled, the badger earthed, the otter vented or watched, the hare formed, and the rabbit set."
— 1819, John Mayer, The Sportsman's Directory, or Park and Gamekeeper's Companion:
"He said, “I am full of anger and bitterness at those people, but I will go to an AA meeting today and try to divest myself of these resentments, because if I hang on to resentments, I will drink again.” It occurred to me that this man was fortunate in being aware that harboring resentments is destructive."
— 2007, Abraham J. Twerski, Happiness and the Human Spirit: The Spirituality of Becoming the Best You Can be, Jewish Lights Publishing, →ISBN, page 133:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She continued to ____ resentment towards him for years.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The fishing boats returned to the quiet ____ just before the massive storm hit the coast.