: the male of the red deer especially when over five years old : stag compare hind
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebWhat is the meaning of the white hart in House of the Dragon? Philip Ellis, Men's Health, 8 Sep. 2022 The hunt that's prepared for Aegon's second name day is a sham; after much talk about the king slaying a white hart — the king of the kingswood — his soldiers are unable to find the beast. Randall Colburn, EW.com, 5 Sep. 2022 One side of the exterior (featuring the royal arms of France and England) suffers from water damage; the other pictures a white hart with crown and chains, the king’s personal emblem, sitting on rosemary branches. Willard Spiegelman, WSJ, 17 Jan. 2020 Each wears a badge: the hart that is the king’s personal symbol—hardly an ecclesiastical motif. Willard Spiegelman, WSJ, 17 Jan. 2020
Word History
Etymology
Middle English hert, going back to Old English heorot, heort "hart, stag," going back to Germanic *heruta- "horned animal" (whence also Old Saxon hirut "stag," Old High German hiruz, hirz "deer, red deer, stag," Old Norse hjǫrtr), from *her- "horn" (going back to Indo-European *ḱer-) + *-uta-, suffix of animal names — more at horn
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of hart was before the 12th century