▪ I. haven, n.
(ˈheɪv(ə)n)
Forms: 1 hæfen, hæfene, 3–5 hauene, 3–6 hauen, 3– haven, (4 have, 4–5 heven, Sc. hawin(e, -yn(e, 4–6 havin, -yn, 5 havayn, 6 heaven, Sc. heiven, haevin, haivin, hevin, -yn).
[OE. hæfen, str. fem. and hæfne wk. fem. = MDu., Du. haven, MLG. havene, LG. haven, MHG. hafen, haven, habene (mod.G. hafen), ON. höfn; usually considered to be a deriv. from the root either of have v. or of heave v. (Goth. hafjan = L. capere), though possibly of ON. haf, Da. hav, OE. hæf sea.]
1. A recess or inlet of the sea, or the mouth of a river, affording good anchorage and a safe station for ships; a harbour, port.
| 1031 O.E. Chron., Þa hæfenan on Sandwic. c 1205 Lay. 7415 Þat hauen of Douere he hauede inumen. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 134 Heo wolleþ to morwe aryue atte haue [v.r. havene] of Tottenays. Ibid. 423 An hauene..þat me clupeþ Portesmouþe. 1340 Ayenb. 182 Nyxt þe hauene spilþ ofte þet ssip þet geþ zikerliche ine þe heȝe ze. c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 1068 A hundreth schippys..in hawyn was lyand thar. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cvi[i]. 30 So he bryngeth them vnto the hauen where they wolde be [1611 vnto their desired hauen]. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 28 Ane skyppar can nocht gyde his schip to ane gud hevin without direction of his Compas. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. vii. §161 Weymouth, a very convenient Harbour and Haven. 1862 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. xi. 152 Goods imported and exported at the havens of the realm. |
2. fig. A place of shelter, safety, or retreat; a refuge; an asylum.
| a 1225 Juliana 33 Lead me þurh þis lease..lif, to þe hauene of heale. a 1300 Cursor M. 25711 Penance..schal him hauen of merci win. 1547–64 Bauldwin Mor. Philos. (Palfr.) 98 To the godly, death is..the port of paradise, the hauen of heauen..& harbour from all misery. 1573 Tusser Husb. xxxviii. (1878) 92 Cause rooke and rauen to seeke a new hauen. 1706 Watts Horæ Lyr. ii. True Courage 44 The fair haven of eternal bliss. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xviii. vii. (1872) VII. 215 My sole refuge and only haven..is in the arms of death. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as haven-finding, haven-keeper, haven-master, haven-mouth. Also haven-town.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 230/2 Havene Kepare, or gouernare, portunus. 1599 E. Wright (title) The Haven-finding Art, or the way to find any haven or place at sea, by the latitude and variation. 1600 Holland Livy 953 (R.) To sinke them in the verie hauen-mouth, for to choke it up. 1835 Munic. Corpor. Rep. 2399 The Haven Master is an officer appointed under the charter of James I, by which the admiralty rights were acquired. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 206 The fall Of the low haven-waves when night was still. |
Hence ˈhavenful a., full of havens; ˈhavenward adv., towards the haven.
| 1616 Chapman Musæus 364 The havenful shore he sought. 1842 Tennyson Golden Year 44 Blowing havenward With silks, and fruits, and spices, clear of toll. |
▪ II. ˈhaven, v.
[f. prec. n.]
† 1. intr. To put into or shelter in a haven or port.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Nycholas 310 Sa þai sailyt furth & land has sene & hawynit. 1382 Wyclif Acts xx. 15 An other day we haueneden at Samum. 1535–1621 [see below]. |
2. trans. To put (a ship, etc.) into a haven.
| 1601 Cornwallyes Ess. ii. li. (1631) 322 They are never havened, and their Anchors hold not. 1795–7 Southey Juven. Poems Poet. Wks. II. 200 Safe haven'd from the sea. 1831 J. Porter Sir E. Seaward's Narr. I. 41 The creek, in which the good providence of God had havened us. |
| fig. 1820 Keats Eve St. Agnes xxvii, Blissfully haven'd both from joy and pain. 1890 A. Austin in Spectator 14 June, They havened you from strife. |
Hence ˈhavening vbl. n. (attrib., as havening-place, Sc.).
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 601 Ane hevyning place tha fand syne in that steid. 1563 Winȝet Wks. (1888) II. 17, I hid me self in the heuinning place of religioun. 1621 Sc. Acts Jas. VI, c. 68 (1814) 658/2 The sey poirtis and havening places of Eymouth and Coldinghame. |