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hoarfrost

UK/ˈhɔː fɹɒst/US/ˈhoɹ ˌfɹɑst/
nounC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Hoarfrost is feathery white ice that grows on twigs in still cold air. A morning of hoarfrost.

It forms from vapour turning straight to ice, without ever being water. Hoarfrost needs a still night, which is why one breath of wind ruins it.

JLPC · CC BY-SA 3.0

Definitions of hoarfrost

  1. 1nounhoarfrostFeathery white ice that grows on twigs in still cold air.C2

    “The hoarfrost was gone by nine and looked unbelievable at seven.”

hoarfrost is ice.

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *(s)ḱeh₃- — darkness; shadow

  2. Old English

    hār — grey

  3. Middle English

    hore frost

  4. English

    hoar frost

  5. English, today

    hoarfrost

Built from

  • hor · Middle English — grey; greyish-white
  • frost · Middle English — cold spell, freezing weather, frost; hoar-frost; rime

hoar frost comes from Middle English hore frost, horfrosthoorfrost, hore-forst, hor-forst, hore vrost, from hor (“grey; greyish-white”) (from Old English hār (“grey”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)ḱeh₃- (“darkness; shadow”)) + frost (“cold spell, freezing weather, frost; hoar-frost; rime”) (from Old English frost, forst, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European prustós (“frost”)). The English word is analysable as hoar + frost.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Weather & Seasons

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