Hoary
/ˈhɔːri/noun
Gray or white with age; ancient or venerable.
Did you know?Hoary comes from an ancient Germanic word for gray hair, and in Old English it could describe not just age, but the eerie, frost-white look of something ancient and weathered.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ḱey-
“to lie down, rest; to be quiet, still”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*χaizaz
“gray, hoary”
Old English
English
hār
“gray, white-haired, ancient”
Middle English
English
hory
“gray-haired; aged, venerable”
Modern English
English
hoary
“gray or white with age; ancient”