Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Hoary.
  • noun Hoarfrost.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • White: as, hoar frost (see hoar-frost); hoar cliffs.
  • Gray, as with age; hoary: as, hoar locks.
  • Hence Old; ancient; antique.
  • Moldy; musty.
  • To become white or hoar.
  • To become moldy or musty.
  • To make white or hoary.
  • noun Hoariness; antiquity.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To become moldy or musty.
  • noun rare Hoariness; antiquity.
  • adjective White, or grayish white.
  • adjective Gray or white with age; hoary.
  • adjective obsolete Musty; moldy; stale.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A white or greyish-white colour.
  • adjective Of a white or greyish-white colour.
  • adjective poetic Hoarily bearded.
  • verb obsolete, intransitive To become mouldy or musty.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective showing characteristics of age, especially having grey or white hair
  • noun ice crystals forming a white deposit (especially on objects outside)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English hor, from Old English hār.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English hore, from Old English hār ("hoar, hoary, grey, old"), from Proto-Germanic *hairaz (“grey”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱēy(w)-, *ḱyē(w)- (“grey”). Cognate with German hehr ("noble, sublime"), Latin caerulus, caeruleus ("deep blue, cerulean").

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