Etymology

A variant of Harward reflecting the merger of /v/ and /w/ in the dialects of southeastern England; thus from Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#HARVARDCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#HARVARD Herward, Herreward, itself from Old EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Old English#HARVARDCategory:English terms derived from Old English#HARVARD Hereweard and a doublet of Harward and HerewardCategory:English doublets#HARVARD. Compare German Herwarth.

Pronunciation

• (rhotic) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑɹvəɹd/Category:English 2-syllable words#HARVARDCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#HARVARD
• (non-rhotic) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑːvəd/Category:English 2-syllable words#HARVARDCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#HARVARD

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#HARVARD
  • (Boston) IPA^(key): [haːvɪd], [haːvəd], [(h)äːvəd]Category:English terms with IPA pronunciation#HARVARD

Proper noun

HarvardCategory:English lemmas#HARVARDCategory:English proper nouns#HARVARDCategory:English uncountable nouns#HARVARDCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#HARVARDCategory:Pages with entries#HARVARDCategory:Pages with 2 entries#HARVARD

1. A surname transferred from the given nameCategory:English surnames#HARVARDCategory:English surnames from given names#HARVARD.
2. A place in the United StatesCategory:en:Places in the United States#HARVARD:
   1. An unincorporated community in Latah County, IdahoCategory:en:Unincorporated communities in Idaho, USA#HARVARDCategory:en:Places in Idaho, USA#HARVARDCategory:en:Places in the United States#HARVARD, named after the university.
   2. A city in McHenry County, IllinoisCategory:en:Cities in Illinois, USA#HARVARDCategory:en:Cities in the United States#HARVARDCategory:en:Places in Illinois, USA#HARVARDCategory:en:Places in the United States#HARVARD.
   3. A town in Worcester County, MassachusettsCategory:en:Towns in Massachusetts, USA#HARVARDCategory:en:Towns in the United States#HARVARDCategory:en:Places in Massachusetts, USA#HARVARDCategory:en:Places in the United States#HARVARD (not the location of the university, which is in Cambridge, Middlesex County).
   4. A minor city and township in Clay County, NebraskaCategory:en:Cities in Nebraska, USA#HARVARDCategory:en:Cities in the United States#HARVARDCategory:en:Townships#HARVARDCategory:en:Places in Nebraska, USA#HARVARDCategory:en:Places in the United States#HARVARD, named for the university.
3. A university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, named after John Harvard, American clergyman and philanthropist.
   • 2025 June 7, Jason Wilson, “Harvard author Steven Pinker appears on podcast linked to scientific racism”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     The Harvard psychologist and bestselling author Steven Pinker appeared on the podcast of Aporia, an outlet whose owners advocate for a revival of race science and have spoken of seeking “legitimation by association” by platforming more mainstream figures.

     Category:English terms with quotations#HARVARD

4. A person who attends, attended, or is likely to attend Harvard; by extension, a person very successful academically.
   • 2005, Stephan Wilkinson, The Gold-Plated Porsche: How I Sank a Small Fortune Into a Used Car, and Other Misadventures, page 142:

     I'd finished my second year at Harvard when I boarded the Penn Trader […] Not surprisingly. my name became Harvard. "Hey Harvard, get your ass back to the lazarette and bring me another bucket of red lead!"

     Category:English terms with quotations#HARVARD

   • 2014, J Santiago, Lex and Lu:

     Lu had skipped second grade and found herself at the gifted school by the time she entered fifth grade. That more had earned her the nickname Harvard—another moniker from Lex. […] "Hey, Harvard, how was school today? Did you skip any more grades this week?" he had teased.

     Category:English terms with quotations#HARVARD

   • 2021, Eleanor Randolph, The Many Lives of Michael Bloomberg, page 37:

     He seethed about being the butt of anti-Harvard antics by the golden boy traders. Hey, Harvard, get me coffee."

     Category:English terms with quotations#HARVARD

   • 2023 August 9, Michael Lopp, The Software Developer's Career Handbook‎, "O'Reilly Media, Inc.", →ISBN, page 252:

     Because any reasonably bright engineering team would eat the Ivy Leaguers alive: "Hey, Harvard, can you walk through this stack trace with me?"

     Category:English terms with quotations#HARVARD

   1. (derogatoryCategory:English derogatory terms#HARVARD, by extension) a person who is nerdy, excessively privileged, pretentious
      • 2010 December 17, Terri Wiltshire, Carry Me Home‎, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:

        Don't mind her, kiddos. Miss Harvard ain't used to gettin' her hands dirty.

        Category:English terms with quotations#HARVARD

      • 2012 October 15, David Shields, Matthew Vollmer, Fakes: An Anthology of Pseudo-Interviews, Faux-Lectures, Quasi-Letters, "Found" Texts, and Other Fraudulent Artifacts‎, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 333:

        I don't have anything to say about "Feast of Blood," because any idiot can understand it, unless they have an Ivy League education and start looking for allegories and metaphors and what have you. Hey Harvard, guess what: there aren't any. It's a story, not a dissertation. Symbolism is for pussies, you read it here first

        Category:English terms with quotations#HARVARD

      • 2018 September 23, Gabriella Regina, Love Madness‎, Babelcube Inc., →ISBN:

        "What a nerd." he said. "Is that why they call you Harvard?"

        Category:English terms with quotations#HARVARD

Further reading

• “Harvard”, in Collins English Dictionary, 2011–present.
• “Harvard”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “Harvard”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “Harvard”, in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2026

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from EnglishCategory:Portuguese terms borrowed from English#HARVARDCategory:Portuguese unadapted borrowings from English#HARVARDCategory:Portuguese terms derived from English#HARVARD Harvard.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Harvard fCategory:Portuguese lemmas#HARVARDCategory:Portuguese proper nouns#HARVARDCategory:Portuguese uncountable proper nouns#HARVARDCategory:Portuguese entries with incorrect language header#HARVARDCategory:Portuguese feminine nouns#HARVARDCategory:Pages with entries#HARVARDCategory:Pages with 2 entries#HARVARD

1. Harvard (university in Cambridge)