had

Meaning

simple past and past participle of have
Used to form the past perfect tense, expressing an action that took place prior to a reference point that is itself in the past.
As past subjunctive: would have.

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/hæd/

Etymology

From Middle English hadde (preterite), yhad (past participle), from Old English hæfde (first and third person singular preterite), ġehæfd (past participle), from Proto-Germanic *habdaz, past and past participle stem of *habjaną (“to have”), equivalent to have + -ed. Cognate with Dutch had, German hatte, Swedish hade, Icelandic hafði.

Cognate with Dutch

had

Cognate with German

hatte

New

have

1. To possess, own.
2. To hold, as something at someone's disposal.
3. To include as a part, ingredient, or feature.
4. Used to state the existence or presence of someone in a specified relationship with the subject.
5. To consume or use up (a particular substance or resource, especially food or drink).
6. To undertake or perform (an action or activity).
7. To be scheduled to attend, undertake or participate in.
8. To experience, go through, undergo.
9. To be afflicted with, suffer from.
10. Used in forming the perfect aspect.
11. Used as an interrogative verb before a pronoun to form a tag question, echoing a previous use of 'have' as an auxiliary verb or, in certain cases, main verb. (For further discussion, see the appendix English tag questions.)
12. See have to.
13. To give birth to.
14. (informal) To obtain.
15. To engage in sexual intercourse with.
16. To accept as a romantic partner.
17. To cause to, by a command, request or invitation.
18. To cause to be.
19. To be affected by an occurrence. (Used in supplying a topic that is not a verb argument.)
20. To depict as being.
21. (slang) To defeat in a fight; take.
22. (slang) To inflict punishment or retribution on.
23. To be able to speak (a language).
24. To feel or be (especially painfully) aware of.
25. (informal) To trick, to deceive.
26. To allow; to tolerate.
27. To believe, buy, be taken in by.
28. To host someone; to take in as a guest.
29. To get a reading, measurement, or result from an instrument or calculation.
30. To consider a court proceeding that has been completed; to begin deliberations on a case.
31. To make an observation of (a bird species).
32. To capture or actively hold someone's attention or interest.
33. To grasp the meaning of; comprehend.