haunt

Meaning

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

resort

visit frequently

make mischief

chevvy

gathering place

treat badly

be possessed

gathering spot

purlier

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/hɔːnt/

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.