Harvest Meaning
/ˈhɑɹ.vəst/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe process of gathering the ripened crop; harvesting.
nounThe yield of harvesting, i.e., the gathered crops or fruits.
Sentence Examples
Some day you will have to reap the harvest of your own sowing.
In the fall we harvest our summer crops.
The nuts are ready to harvest in September.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The farmers will ____ the wheat in late summer when it is fully ripe.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The farmers worked long hours to ____ all the wheat before the heavy rain arrived.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English harvest, hervest, from Old English hærfest (“autumn, harvest-time; August”), from Proto-West Germanic *harbist, from Proto-Germanic *harbistaz (“harvest-time, autumn, fall”), from *harbaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kerp-. Cognates Cognate with Sylt North Frisian Hārefst, West Frisian hjerst, Dutch herfst, German Herbst, dated German Low German Harvst, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål høst, Norwegian Nynorsk haust; further with Latin carpere (“to seize”), Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “fruit”), κείρω (keírō, “to cut off”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Hester Earle and Violet Wayne were moving about the aisle with bundles of wheat-ears and streamers of ivy, for the harvest thanksgiving was shortly to be celebrated, while the vicar stood waiting for their directions on the chancel steps with a great handful of crimson gladioli."
— 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:
"The frizzle-headed man-eaters were loath to leave their fleshpots so long as the harvest of human carcases was plentiful. Sometimes, when the harvest was too plentiful, they imposed on the missionaries by letting the word slip out that on such a day there would be a killing and a barbecue."
— 1911, Jack London, The Whale Tooth:
"To glean the broken ears after the man / That the main harvest reaps."
— c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:
"The pope's principal harvest was in the jubilee."
— 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
"the harvest of a quiet eye"
— 1815, William Wordsworth, A Poet's Epitaph:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The farmers will ____ the wheat in late summer when it is fully ripe.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The farmers worked long hours to ____ all the wheat before the heavy rain arrived.