▪ I. harvest, n.
(ˈhɑːvɪst)
Forms: 1–2 hærfest, herfest, (1 hærfæst), 3–6 hervest, 4–5 hervist, -vyst, -wist, 5 harveste, (-weste, -waste, -wyste, her(r)ust, eruyst); 3– harvest, (Sc. 8–9 hairst, 9 ha'arst, harst, herst).
[OE. hærfest, hęrfest = OFris. herfst (mod.Fris. dial. harvst, hearst, herst), MDu. and Du. herfst, MLG. hervest, hervst, (LG. harvst, harfst), OHG. herbist (MHG. herbest, Ger. herbst), all masc.; ON. (with loss of r and contraction) haust neut. (orig. masc., Sw., Da. höst m.):—OTeut. *harƀisto-z, -usto-z, perh. from a root *harƀ- = L. carpĕre to pluck, crop, cf. Gr. καρπός fruit.]
1. The third of the four seasons of the year, the autumn. Obs. exc. dial., or passing into sense 2.
| 902 Charter Bp. Denewulf in Cod. Dipl. V. 151 To hærfestes emnihte sie simne aᵹyfed. c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 299 Þa feower timan..lengten, sumor, hærfest, & winter. a 1100 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 317/7 Autumnus, herfest. a 1225 Ancr. R. 412 Þe holi rode dei, þe latere, þet is ine heruest. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 12/393 Aftur heruest he comez i-lome. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 107 Þe evenes of þe day and þe nyȝt is ones in þe Lente and efte in hervest. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. lxvi. (E.E.T.S.) 243 Al the olde Phylosofers the yere dyuysedyn in fowre Parties, wyche ben callid Veere, Somer, Herrust, and Wyntyr. Ibid 245 Of Herust. 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 32 The 14 day of September..with it beginneth Haruest, which is the third quarter of the year. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. iii. 287 Countries, whose constitutions admit not such tempestivity of harvest. 1774 M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. 78 Toward the End of Harvest, when the Days are turning short. |
2. The season for reaping and gathering in the ripened grain.
(Not distinctly marked from
prec. sense before 14th c.)
| a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia (1886) IX. 261 On hærfeste ripan. c 1300 St. Brandan 692 Thapplen were ripe y-nouȝ riȝt as hit harvest were. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 523 Sesounez schal yow neuer sese of sede ne of heruest. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxx. 14 And Ruben goon out in tyme of wheet heruest into the feeld. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 202 The man, whiche hath his londe tilled, Awaiteth nought more redely The hervest. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 252 Reserue in heruest hem that seed shal brynge. 14.. in Archæol. LIV. i. 164/106 July for eruyst. 1483 Cath. Angl. 177/1 Harvest, autumpnus, messis. 1483 Presentm. Juries in Surtees Misc. (1888) 28 And cutes corn in harwyste. 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. xxi. 9 Whan y⊇ barly haruest begynneth. 1611 Bible Prov. x. 5 He that sleepeth in haruest, is a sonne that causeth shame. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 899 Seed time and Harvest, Heat and hoary Frost Shall hold thir course. 178. Burns Song Robin shure in hairst, I shure wi' him. 1856 Stanley Sinai & Pal. v. (1858) 242 The harvest of Palestine is in April or May. |
b. transf. The season for the gathering of other annual products.
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 337 Two Honey Harvests fall in ev'ry Year. |
c. transf. and
fig. (From 2 and 3.)
| 1535 Coverdale Jer. li. 33 The doughter of Babilon hath bene in hir tyme like as a threszshinge floore, but shortly shal hir haruest come [1382 Wyclif, ȝit a litil, and come shal the tyme of his reping]. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado i. iii. 27 It is needful that you frame the season for your owne haruest. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 674 The Lent..so weakening their bodies, that the Moores make that their Harvest of Abissine captives. 1648 Gage West Ind. 93 Fellow-labourers in that harvest of souls. 1841 Longfellow God's-acre iii, The great harvest, when the archangel's blast Shall winnow, like a fan, the chaff and grain. |
3. The reaping and gathering in of the ripened grain; the gathering in of other products.
| 1526 Tindale John iv. 35 Loke on the regions: For they are whyte allredy vnto harvest [1388 Wyclif, ben..to repe]. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 950 To go to hervest, moissoner. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. vii. 26 The Seeds⁓man Vpon the slime and Ooze scatters his graine, And shortly comes to Haruest. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 981 A field Of Ceres ripe for harvest. 1797 Washington in Sir J. Sinclair's Corr. (1831) II. 27, I..shall read it..so soon as I have passed through my harvest, which is now nearly finished. 1880 Mrs. Whitney Odd or Even xii. 98 When the great hay harvest was not actually amaking. |
b. Proverbs and phrases.
to make a long harvest for or about a little corn.
lord of the harvest, (
a) the proprietor or farmer to whom the crops belong, hence applied to God (
Matt. ix. 8); (
b) the head reaper, harvest-lord.
lady of the harvest, (
a) the woman chosen to receive honour at the harvest-home;
cf. harvest queen; (
b) the female ‘mate’ of the head reaper, harvest-lady.
| 1534 Tindale Matt. ix. 38 Wherfore praye the Lorde of the harvest [1526 harvest lorde] to sende forthe laborers into hys harvest. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 38 Surely..ye haue in this time thus worne, Made a long haruest for a little corne. 1600 Dekker Shoemaker's Holiday ii. (1862) 12, I am sure you make that garland for me against I shall be lady of the harvest. 1710 Tusser Redivivus in Hone's Every-day Bk. (1827) II. 1158 He that is the lord of harvest is generally some stayed sober-working man. 1826 Ibid. 1167 The lord of the harvest accompanied by his lady (the person is so called who goes second in the reap)..enters the parlour where the guests are seated, and solicits a largess from each of them. |
4. The ripened grain or fruit; the corn-crop.
| 1526 Tindale Matt. ix. 37 The hervest is greate [Wyclif, there is myche ripe corne] but the laborers ar feawe. 1573–80 Baret Alv. H 206 Haruest was so plentifull, that barnes would not hold it. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 311 The waving Harvest bends beneath his [Boreas'] Blast. 1791 Cowper Iliad xviii. 689 Along the furrow here, the harvest fell. 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 80 Those who sow and reap her bountiful harvests are often without bread. |
b. The season's yield of any natural product.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 421 This ought to be no marvail, that there should be so great a harvest and store of these Mice. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 753 The Vine her liquid Harvest yields. 1880 C. R. Markham Peruv. Bark xii. 409 The harvest of bark, in 1879..amounted to 106,000 lbs. 1881 Times 29 July 4/1 The climatic conditions on which the grouse harvest depends. |
5. fig. The product or ‘fruit’ of any action or effort: a supply produced or appearing, a ‘crop’.
| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 225 They shal gather such gleaning as agree with your harvest, namely the same vertue wherwith you are indued. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. ii. 15 To reape the Haruest of perpetuall peace. 1693 Dryden Juvenal (J.), Let us the harvest of our labours eat. 1771 Junius Lett. xliv. 235, I am not now sanguine enough to expect a more plentiful harvest of parliamentary virtue in one year than another. 1833 Lyell Elem. Geol. xix. (1874) 336 A rich ‘harvest’ of fossil ferns has been obtained from them. |
6. attrib. and
Comb. a. Of or pertaining to the autumn or harvest.
| 1382 Wyclif Jude 12 Heruest trees with outen fruyt. c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. xvi. 383 Thoruȝ al an haruest cesoun. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 278 Another..wyth her doth brynge Her haruest gyrdle, her weddynge rynge. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 24 We here doo call Fruges, all sortes of harvest grayne. 1602 Carew Cornwall (1811) 120 The ordinary covenants of most conventionary tenants are, to..do harvest journies, grind at the mill [etc.]. a 1621 J. Vicars in Sylvester's Wks. (1880) I. 10/2 All thy full-ear'd Harvest-Swathes. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. viii. 336 An Harvest Bottle of Leather. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 286 No toiling Teams from Harvest-labour come So late at Night. 1730–46 Thomson Autumn 1128 The harvest-treasures all Now gather'd in. 1797 Statist. Acc. Scotl. XIX. 384 The former tenant..kept a piper..and gave him his harvest-fee. 1801 E. Scot Alonzo & Cora 50 'Twas on a cheerful harvest-morn. 1842–4 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm (1891) III. 88 Harvest Forks..used in the loading of corn require to have long shafts. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets iii. 91 The voice of the harvest-bird brings Theognis sorrow. 1884 Miss Surtees Harvest Home 16 For that harvest-day the fields are white. |
b. Of or pertaining to the harvest-home.
| 1602 Carew Cornwall 68 (Brand) The harvest dinners are held by every wealthy man. 1606 Choice, Chance, etc. (1881) 28 Another [would] swell with pride, as if she were Mistris of the Haruest cart. 1809 Scott Poacher 115 The harvest⁓feast grew blither when he came. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 27 All the feats that crown the harvest supper night. 1827 Hone Table Bk. II. 333 Harvest-Catch in Norfolk. 1884 Miss Surtees Harvest Home 17 Compel them to come in to the Master's Harvest-home, to the great Harvest Supper. |
c. objective, as
harvest-bearing adj. d. adverbial, as
harvest-trudging adj.| 1845 Mrs. Norton Child of Isl. (1846) 184 When harvest-trudging clowns went singing by. 1871 Bryant Odyss. v. 557 The harvest-bearing earth. |
7. Special comb.:
harvest-apple, a small apple ripening in August;
harvest-bell, (
a) a bell rung in harvest time; (
b) a flower, the Autumn bell,
Gentiana Pneumonanthe;
harvest-cock, a salmon of a certain age;
harvest doll: see
quot., also
cf. harvest queen;
† harvest ears: see
quot.;
harvest festival,
thanksgiving, a thanksgiving service for the ingathering of the harvest, at which the church is usually decorated with grain, fruit, etc.;
harvest-fever, an autumnal fever;
harvest-fish, the butter- or dollar-fish of North America, a species of
Stromateus;
harvest-fly, a name in
U.S. for species of
Cicada, which appear during harvest time;
harvest-folk, the people engaged in harvesting;
harvest-goose = harvest-home goose;
harvest-hand,
-hind,
-swain, a reaper in the harvest-field;
harvest-herring,
-mackerel, one caught during harvest;
harvest-hog, ‘a young sheep, that is smeared at the end of harvest, when it ceases to be a lamb’ (
Jam.);
harvest-lady and
harvest-lord, the couple of reapers who lead the others in the harvest-field; see also 3 b;
harvest-louse,
-mite = harvest-bug,
harvest-play, ‘the vacation of a school during harvest’ (
Jam.);
harvest-rig Sc., (
a) a ridge, rig, or ‘land’ of a harvest-field, between two furrows; the harvest-field so divided; (
b) the couple, man and woman, who reap together during the harvest, cutting a ‘rig’ conjointly;
harvest-saver, a machine for economically drying hay, etc. when cut in wet weather;
harvest-spider, a long-legged spider,
Phalangium, common in harvest-fields;
harvest-tick, (
a)
= harvest-bug; (
b) any small spider of the family
Leptidæ;
harvest-trow (
dial.)
= harvest mouse;
harvest-wench,
-woman, a female reaper;
harvest-work, the work of reaping and gathering in the harvest (so
harvest-worker).
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. ciii. §4. 355 Calathian Violet..is called..of some *Haruestbels. 1860 N. & Q. 2nd Ser. X. 356 To ring what is called the ‘Harvest Bell’..to warn the labourers in the harvest fields when to begin and cease their labour. |
| 1861 Act 24 & 25 Vict. c. 109 §4 All migratory fish of the genus salmon, whether known by the names..*harvest cock, sea trout, white trout..or by any other local name. |
| 1777 Brand Pop. Antiq. (1849) II. 20 Not half a century ago, they used everywhere to dress up something..at the end of harvest which was called a *Harvest Doll. |
| 1608 Withals' Dict. 46 Thine eares be on pilgrimage..as they say commonly, thou hast on thy *haruest eares. Vestræ peregrinantur aures. |
| 1882 J. Parker Apost. Life I. 43 Pentecost was a *harvest festival. |
| 1891 C. Creighton Epidem. Brit. 409 Autumnal or *harvest-fever, was a pestilential fever. |
| 1885 Kingsley Stand. Nat. Hist. III. 191 The species known in Massachusetts and New York as the butter-fish, in New Jersey as the *harvest fish. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Harvest-fly, Cicada..the name of a large fly, remarkable for the noise which it makes in the summer-months, and particularly about the time of harvest. 1870 Riley Rep. Nox. Ins. 131 Reminding one of the mode of escape of our Harvest-flies (Cicadæ). |
| 1573 Tusser Husb. lvii. (1878) 132 In haruest-time, *haruest folke, Seruants and all should make, altogether, good cheere in the hall. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 63 The mowers and Harvest folkes..carrie great peeces of them to the Field with them. |
| c 1400 Rel. Ant. II. 113 A yong wyf and an *arvyst-gos, Moche gagil with bothe. |
| 1891 T. Hardy Tess I. 178 *Harvest-hands being greatly in demand just then. |
| 1547 Boorde Introd. Knowl. ix. (1870) 149 We haue *harvest heryng, & good hawkes. |
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. ii. 10 *Harvest Hinds, o'erspent with Toil and Heats. |
| 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 66 Gylmyrs and dilmondis, and mony *herueist hog. |
| a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, *Harvest-lady, the second reaper in the row..but does not seem to have been ever so regularly greeted by the title, except on the day of harvest-home. |
| 1573 Tusser Husb. xlvi. (1878) 129 Grant *haruest lord more by a penie or twoo, to call on his fellowes the better to doo. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Harvest-lord, the principal reaper, who goes first, and whose motions regulate those of his followers. |
| 1775 Ash, *Harvestlouse, an exceeding small insect very troublesome in harvest time. |
| 1874 Riley Rep. Nox. Ins., ‘Jiggers’ or *Harvest Mites, Leptus irritans. L. Americanus. 1877 A. Murray Econ. Entomol. 117 Trombidiidæ (Harvest mites). |
| 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 148/1 Models of *Harvest Savers, already adopted on twenty of the chief estates in the country. |
| 1852 Wood Nat. Hist. (1863) III. 677 Sometimes the *Harvest-spider is seen scrambling over the grass with wonderful speed. 1883 J. Curtis Farm Ins. 200 The harvest-bug..is closely allied..to our tick..described by Dr. Geer under the name of Acarus Phalangii from its infesting the harvest-spider Phalangium Opilio. |
| 1648 Herrick Hesper., Hock-cart 13 The *harvest swaines, and wenches bound For joy, to see the hock-cart crown'd. |
| 1886 Syd. Soc. Lex., *Harvest ticks, the species of the Genus Leptus. |
| 1880 Jefferies Gr. Ferne F. I. 90 Looking at a nest of *harvest-trows, as the tiny mice are called that breed in the grass. |
| 1758 Johnson Idler No. 71 ¶14 He saw some reapers and *harvest-women at dinner. |
| 1562 Act 5 Eliz. c. 4 §16 Persons..accustomed to goe into other Shires for *Harvest worck. |
▪ II. harvest, v. (
ˈhɑːvɪst)
[f. prec. n.] 1. a. trans. To reap and gather in (the corn, or, by extension, other ripe crop).
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxx. 300 Men hervesten the Corn twyes a ȝeer. 1719 [see harvesting vbl. n.] 1776–90 Pennant Tour Scotl. (T.), I have seen a stock of reeds harvested and stacked, worth two or three hundred pounds. 1858 Glenny Gard. Every-day Bk. 222/1 The general crop [of onions] must be pulled, if not already harvested. Mod. The tenants had to harvest the lord's grain for him. |
b. intr. To gather in the corn-crop.
| 1891 Daily News 28 Apr. 2/5 Texas and Southern Kansas can harvest in June and July. |
c. trans. To kill or remove (wild animals belonging to a local population) so as to provide food (or other useful product) or sport, or to reduce the population.
| 1947 Biol. Abstr. XXI. 1602/2 14 tagged fish were recaptured later by anglers, suggesting that only a small % of the sauger crop is being harvested. 1948 Jrnl. Wildlife Managem. XII. 78/1 In 13 years of harvesting the surplus, 546 deer have been taken. 1960 Biol. Abstr. XXXV. 2529/1 Aeromonas caused heavy mortality of golden shiners..when these fish were harvested and moved to holding tanks. 1961 Listener 7 Sept. 348/2 Now 500 to 1,000 hippo are being harvested annually for food. 1970 Daily Tel. 30 Oct. 4/8 The tablets were made from the livers of seals harvested in Alaska in 1964. 1973 Times 10 Oct. 6/8 Shellfish in Italian waters can be harvested again after a month-long ban brought about by cholera. |
d. To remove (cells) from a culture made
in vitro or
in vivo; to remove (cells, tissues, organs, or embryos) from an animal for experimental purposes.
| 1946 Nature 9 Nov. 677/2 Table 2 shows the general metabolic activities of normal cells compared with those of cells harvested from a culture grown for 90 min. in the presence of 10 units [of] penicillin per ml. medium. 1957 Jrnl. Cellular & Compar. Physiol. XLIX. 369 Various numbers of HeLa cells were added to duplicate Warburg flasks and oxygen consumption was measured for 68·5 hours. The results..indicated that..the rate of oxygen consumption was related linearly to number both of cells inoculated and cells harvested. 1960 Biol. Abstr. XXXV. 460/2 (heading) Effects of 2,4-dinitrophenol on endogenous respiration of yeast harvested during the first budding cycle. 1971 Nature 17 Dec. 385/3 The lymphoid organs are always harvested 24 h after the injection of labelled cells. 1972 Ibid. 24 Mar. 169/1 Macrophages were harvested from the peritoneal cavity 10 days after the second immunization. 1972 Science 5 May 519/1 Pregnant animals were killed 3 days later and the embryos were harvested. |
2. transf. To gather and lay up in store; to ‘reap’, to husband.
| 1888 Pall Mall G. 26 Jan. 10/1 He..has watched Chicago's growth for fifty years, and harvested a fortune of about {pstlg}40,000 from that city's prosperity. 1889 M. E. Carter Mrs. Severn III. iii. xii. 258 The whole of her money was spent. That was soon, for she did not try to harvest it. |
Hence
ˈharvested ppl. a.| 1632 Sherwood, Haruested, mestivé. 1766 Pennant Zool. (1768) I. 8 Artificial shelter, and harvested provision. 1887 Ruskin Præterita II. xi. 404 The pendant gold of the harvested maize. |