harvest

Etymology

From Middle English harvest, hervest, from Old English hærfest (“autumn, harvest-time; August”), from Proto-West Germanic *harbist, from Proto-Germanic *harbistaz (“harvest-time, autumn, fall”), from *harbaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kerp-. Cognates: Cognate with Sylt North Frisian Hārefst, West Frisian hjerst, Dutch herfst, German Herbst, German Low German Harvst, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål høst, Norwegian Nynorsk haust; further with Latin carpere (“to seize”), Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “fruit”), κείρω (keírō, “to cut off”).

noun

1. (UK, dialectal) The third season of the year; autumn; fall.
   Harvest is usually very damp and rainy.
2. The season of gathering ripened crops; specifically, the time of reaping and gathering grain.
3. (agriculture) The process of gathering the ripened crop; harvesting.
4. The yield of harvesting, i.e., the gathered crops or fruits.
   Hester Earle and Violet Wayne were moving about the aisle with bundles of wheat-ears and streamers of ivy, for the harvest thanksgiving was shortly to be celebrated, while the vicar stood waiting for their directions on the chancel steps with a great handful of crimson gladioli. 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict
   This year's cotton harvest was great but the corn harvest was disastrous.
   The frizzle-headed man-eaters were loath to leave their fleshpots so long as the harvest of human carcases was plentiful. Sometimes, when the harvest was too plentiful, they imposed on the missionaries by letting the word slip out that on such a day there would be a killing and a barbecue. 1911, Jack London, The Whale Tooth
5. (by extension) The product or result of any exertion or course of action; reward or consequences.
   the harvest of a quiet eye 1815, William Wordsworth, A Poet's Epitaph
6. (paganism) A modern pagan ceremony held on or around the autumn equinox, which is in the harvesting season.

verb

1. (transitive) To bring in a harvest; reap; glean.
2. (transitive, euphemistic) To kill for meat, slaughter.
3. (intransitive) To be occupied bringing in a harvest.
   Harvesting is a stressing, thirsty occupation.
4. (transitive) To win, achieve a gain.
   The rising star harvested well-deserved acclaim, even an Oscar under 21.