haunt

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To inhabit or to visit frequently (most often used in reference to ghosts).
2. (transitive) To make uneasy, restless.
3. (transitive) To stalk; to follow.
4. (archaic, intransitive) To live habitually; to stay, to remain.
5. (Northern-England, Scotland, UK, dialectal, transitive) To accustom; habituate; make accustomed to.
6. (Northern-England, Scotland, UK, dialectal, transitive) To practise; to devote oneself to.
7. (intransitive) To persist in staying or visiting.

Noun

1. A place at which one is regularly found; a habitation or hangout.
2. (dialectal) A ghost.
3. A lair or feeding place of animals.

Synonyms

resort

frequent

hangout

den

possess

ghost

👻

obsess

stamping ground

scare

😨

spook

visit frequently

repair

nest

frighten

stalk

bother

abode

purlieu

make mischief

dwell

distress

attend

trouble

press

abide

hang out

worry

go

concern

gag

chivy

frustrate

chivvy

molest

exasperate

chevy

bedevil

eat into

dwelling

cark

live

linger

loiter

lurk

meeting place

menace

lair

irritate

burden

annoy

Translations

hanter

assombrar

frecuentar

vervolgen

στέκι

tormentare

spoken

kwellen

fréquenter

στοιχειώνω

verfolgen

achtervolgen

frequentare

inseguire

perseguir

Pronounced as (IPA)

/hɔːnt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: haunten

Cognate with Old English: hǣman

Cognate with Old English: hām

Cognate with Old French: hantin

Cognate with Dutch: hanteren

Cognate with German: hantieren

Cognate with Swedish: hantera

Cognate with Danish: håndtere

In summary

From Middle English haunten (“to reside, inhabit, use, employ”), from Old French hanter (“to inhabit, frequent, resort to”), from Old Northern French hanter (“to go back home, frequent”), from Old Norse heimta (“to bring home, fetch”) or/and from Old English hāmettan (“to bring home; house; cohabit with”); both from Proto-Germanic *haimatjaną (“to house, bring home”), from Proto-Germanic *haimaz (“village, home”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóymos (“village”).
Cognate with Old English hǣman (“to cohabit, lie with, marry”); related to Old English hām (“home, village”), Old French hantin (“a stay, a place frequented by”) from the same Germanic source. Another descendant from the French is Dutch hanteren, whence German hantieren, Swedish hantera, Danish håndtere. More at home.

Sentences

The ghosts of the murdered children are said to haunt Wayland Wood .