hide

Etymology 1

From Middle English hiden, huden, from Old English hȳdan (“to hide, conceal, preserve”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūdijan (“to conceal”), from Proto-Germanic *hūdijaną (“to conceal”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewdʰ- (“to cover, wrap, encase”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover”). The verb was originally weak. In the King James Version of the Bible (1611) both hid and hidden are used for the past participle. Cognates Cognate with Dutch huiden, Low German (ver)hüden, (ver)hüen (“to hide, cover, conceal”), Welsh cuddio (“to hide”), Latin custōs, Ancient Greek κεύθω (keúthō, “to conceal”), Sanskrit कुहरम् (kuharam, “cave”). Related to hut and sky.

verb

1. (transitive) To put (something) in a place where it will be harder to discover or out of sight.
   1856, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter XI, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling The blind man, whom he had not been able to cure with the pomade, had gone back to the hill of Bois-Guillaume, where he told the travellers of the vain attempt of the druggist, to such an extent, that Homais when he went to town hid himself behind the curtains of the "Hirondelle" to avoid meeting him.
   Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements. 2013-07-19, Timothy Garton Ash, “Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 18
   He hides his magazines under the bed.
   The politicians were accused of keeping information hidden from the public.
2. (intransitive) To put oneself in a place where one will be harder to find or out of sight.
   Nonetheless, some insect prey take advantage of clutter by hiding in it. Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7

Etymology 2

From Old English hȳd, of Germanic origin, from Proto-West Germanic *hūdi, from Proto-Germanic *hūdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *kéw(H)tis (“skin, hide”) (compare Latin cutis (“skin, rind, hide”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kew(H)- (“to cover”), ultimately the same root as the above etymology. More at sky. Cognates See also West Frisian hûd, Dutch huid, German Haut, Welsh cwd (“scrotum”), Latin cutis (“skin”), Lithuanian kutys (“purse, money-belt”), Ancient Greek κύτος (kútos, “hollow vessel”), σκῦτος (skûtos, “cover, hide”).

noun

1. (countable) The skin of an animal.
2. (obsolete or derogatory) The human skin.
3. (metonymically, uncountable, informal, usually US) One's own life or personal safety, especially when in peril.
   to save his own hide
   better watch his hide
   Coordinate term: ass (see ass § Usage notes)
   The rotter who simpers that he sees no difference between the power of money and the power of the whip, ought to learn the difference on his own hide—as I think he will. 1957, Ayn Rand, Francisco d'Anconia's speech in Atlas Shrugged
4. (countable) (mainly British) A covered structure from which hunters, birdwatchers, etc can observe animals without scaring them.
5. (countable, architecture) A secret room for hiding oneself or valuables; a hideaway.
   In the early days of American settlement, hides were built into houses to provide protection from the Indians and to conceal merchandise from the threat of taxation or thievery. 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, page 125
6. (countable) A covered structure to which a pet animal can retreat, as is recommended for snakes.

verb

1. To beat with a whip made from hide.
   He ran last week, and he was hided, and he was out on the day before yesterday, and here he is once more, and he knows he's got to run and to be hided again. 1891, Robert Weir, J. Moray Brown, Riding

Etymology 3

From Middle English hide, from Old English hīd, hȳd, hīġed, hīġid (“a measure of land”), for earlier *hīwid (“the amount of land needed to support one family”), a derivative of Proto-Germanic *hīwaz, *hīwō (“relative, fellow-lodger, family”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“to lie with, store, be familiar”). Related to Old English hīwisc (“hide of land, household”), Old English hīwan (“members of a family, household”). More at hewe, hind.

noun

1. (historical) A unit of land and tax assessment of varying size, originally as intended to support one household with dependents.
   The exact size of hides varied with soil quality, but each one generally encompassed 24 to 26 hectares. 2016, Peter H. Wilson, The Holy Roman Empire, Penguin, published 2017, page 488