▪ I. hardy, a.
(ˈhɑːdɪ)
Also 3–4 herdi, -y, (4 ardi).
[a. F. hardi, nom. sing. hardiz (11th c. in Hatz.-Darm.) = Pr. ardit, It. ardito, pa. pple. of OF. hardir, Pr. ardir, It. ardire to harden, make hard, bold, etc., a. WGer. *hardjan, Goth. hardjan, OHG. hartjan to make hard, f. hard hard a.]
1. Bold, courageous, daring. a. Of persons, their manner, etc.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1745 Porphire and Auguste wurðen..se swiðe wilcweme, and se hardi. c 1275 Lay. 4181 Six hundred cniþtes of alle þe kenneste and of þan hardieste. a 1300 Cursor M. 15503 We er herdi [v.rr. hardi, hardy] men i-nou agains iudas vr fa. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 1136 Gode kniȝt and ardi in fiȝt. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 343 Petre was..hardi in axing. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xvii, The hed of that hardy, He sette on a stake. 1568 Grafton Chron. III. 94 A good Knight and hardie of his handes. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1343/1 Philip duke of Burgognie, surnamed the hardie. 1625–6 Purchas Pilgrims II. 1043 No man is so hardy as to ride on horse-back by a church. 1765 H. Walpole Otranto i. (1798) 25 Art thou so hardy, as to dare my vengeance? 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) I. iv. 185 In this treatise such a hardy spirit of innovation was displayed..that [etc.]. 1885 Manch. Exam. 13 June 5/2 No one..would be hardy enough to take up the reins after he had thrown them down. |
b. Of actions, qualities, etc.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 248 Herdi bileaue bringeð þene deouel a vlihte. c 1340 Cursor M. 7659 (Fairf.) Þis batal was hardy I-nogh. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. 20 note, A hardie enterprise of certaine knights. 1685 Evelyn Mem. (1857) II. 253 He..has served the Court interest on all the hardiest occasions. 1783 Johnson Let. to J. Fowke 19 Apr., Silenced by a hardy denial of facts. 1884 E. Reclus in Contemp. Rev. May 633 A hardy stroke on the Stock Exchange. |
2. opprobriously. Presumptuously bold, audacious; rashly bold, showing temerity. Cf. foolhardy.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 56 Þu, a wrecche sunful mon, ert so swuðe herdi to kesten kang eien upon ȝunge wummen. a 1340 Hampole Psalter ix. 42 Þat na man be hardy him to heghe abouen þe stabilnes of haly men. c 1450 Merlin 37 Thei sholde not be so hardy be-fore me to make yow no lesynge. 1483 Cath. Angl. 175/1 Hardy..temerarius, qui sine consilio agit. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxii. 474 Yf Reynawd were soo hardy to doo ony harme vnto richarde of normandy, I sholde hange hym wyth myn owen handes. 1699 Bentley Phal. 503 What shall we say now to such a hardy Writer, as this is? 1890 Sat. Rev. 1 Feb. 150/1 A warning to others not henceforward to be so hardy. |
† 3. Strong, enduring, tough. Obs.
| c 1381 Chaucer Parl. Foules 176 The byldere ok & ek the hardy [v.r. harde] assh. |
4. a. Capable of enduring fatigue, hardship, rigour of the weather, etc.; physically robust, vigorous.
| 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 150 A tall and a hardye personage. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 32 How strong and hardie I was, and how I could endure the cold and tempestuous season. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 920 [Art] Thou then they Less hardie to endure? 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 183 When once grown up, turkies are very hardy birds. 1783 Polite Trav. 105 Northward of the bay, even the hardy pine is seen no longer. 1853 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. i. ii. 93 The hardy mountaineers of the Caucasus. |
b. Hort. Able to grow in the open air throughout the year. half hardy, able to do this except in winter, when shelter is required. hardy annual, an annual plant that may be sown in the open ground, or that ripens its seed and sows itself year after year. Also fig., a subject that comes up year after year in Parliament, or in the newspapers. hardy perennial, a herbaceous plant with a perennial rootstock; also fig.
| 1664 Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense in Sylva 59 Auriculas..need not be hous'd; it is a hardy Plant. 1783 T. Blaikie Diary of Scotch Gardener (1931) 187 A little way from St Germains..ther is a Curious Gentelman one Mr. Trochereau who has a curious collection of hardy exotick plants. 1813 [see borecole]. 1831 Athenæum 5 Nov. 718 This, truly, is ‘a hardy Annual’! 1852 Half-hardy [see harden v. 7]. 1852 R. Buist Amer. Flower-Garden Directory (ed. 5) 29 Hardy Annuals..are possessed of much beauty of hue. 1870 Lowell Study Wind., Chaucer (1886) 216 It may well be doubted whether Roman literature, always a half-hardy exotic, could ripen the seeds of living reproduction. 1871 S. Hibberd Amateur's Flower Gard. 188 Many of the hardy annuals are weedy and short-lived. 1892 Pall Mall G. 16 Aug. 4/2 (Farmer) Readers..are once more filling the columns of that journal with ‘Is Marriage a Failure?’ The hardy annual is called ‘English Wives’ this time. 1900 J. M. Abbott in W. D. Drury Bk. Gardening viii. 260 Hardy herbaceous perennials are a very popular set of plants. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin xiv. 248 The subjects most often brought under discussion, however—the hardy perennials, so to speak—were: [etc.]. 1944 A. Huxley Let. 9 Apr. (1969) 502, I am very glad to hear the good news of The Art of Seeing. The book has all the appearance of a hardy perennial. 1967 C. O. Skinner Madame Sarah vii. 132 Thousands of playgoers travelled thousands of miles to sob over Marguerite Gauthier's departure from life..in that hardy perennial whose actual title is La Dame aux Camélias. 1967 C. Lloyd Hardy Perennials i. 9 The hardy perennial possesses every virtue that you could require of a plant, except for a permanently visible structure. |
c. Of actions, qualities, etc.
| 1601 Chester Love's Mart., K. Arthur liii, The Saxons men of hardie strength. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland 124 The Laplanders lead a miserable and hardy kind of life. 1845 Ford Hand-bk. Spain i. 53 The horses of Navarre..are still esteemed for their hardy strength. |
5. Comb., as hardy-limbed, hardy-mannered, hardy-witted, etc.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. ii. Babylon 650 Ronsard..hardy-witted, handleth happily All sorts of subject, stile, and Poesie. 1825 Moore Mem. (1853) IV. 339 The sexton, a shrewd, hardy-mannered fellow. |
▪ II. ˈhardy, n.
Also hardie.
[prob. f. hard, or hardy a.]
The vertical bar or blade of hard iron with a sharp edge, on which nailmakers cut or strike off the shaped nail from the iron rod; also, a movable piece, called also ‘fuller’, fitting into a socket in an anvil, used for similar purposes by blacksmiths.
| 1870 Gd. Words Apr. 247 My bore and hardy must be done, Or I cannot make good nails. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Hardy..A chisel or fuller having a square shank for insertion into a square hole in an anvil called a hardy-hole. 1894 Amer. Ann. Deaf June 150 [Blacksmith's tools] a poker, a rake, a shovel, a sprinkler, a hardy. 1957 R. Lister Decorative Wrought Iron-Work ii. 13 The square hole through the heel is called a hardie hole. Ibid. 228 Hardie, a small chisel, used in the anvil. 1964 [see hot set s.v. hot a. 12 c]. 1965 A. F. Shirley Metalwork Techniques vi. 84 Metal..should be heated where it is to be cut and this part placed on the hardie and hammered to form a vee cut. |
▪ III. † ˈhardy, v. Obs.
[f. hardy a.]
1. trans. To make hardy or bold; to encourage.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2163 Hardi min heorte. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 218 Lucye, to hardy ys men, prykede her and þer. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1156 Forto hardien þe hertes of here heiȝh burnes. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. lxxi. (1869) 41 Al gates j hardied me and went wel nyh to hire. |
2. intr. To become bold. nonce-use.
| 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Old Margate Hoy, Still hardying more and more in his triumphs over our simplicity. |