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Added 9 October 2026

hardy

/ˈhɑɹdi/ adjective

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about hardy at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Having rugged physical strength; inured to fatigue or hardships.
Able to survive adverse growing conditions, especially frost.
A hardy plant is one that can withstand the extremes of climate, such as frost.
Brave and resolute.

noun

Anything, especially a plant, that is hardy.
A blacksmith's fuller or chisel, having a square shank for insertion into a square hole in an anvil.
A hardy hole.

Origin

From Middle English hardy, hardi, from Old French hardi (“hardy, daring, stout, bold”). Old French hardi is usually regarded as the past participle of hardir ("to harden, be bold, make bold"; compare Occitan ardir, Italian ardire), from Frankish *hardijan; but it may also have come directly from Frankish *hardi, a secondary form of Frankish *hard (compare Old High German harti, herti, secondary forms of Old High German hart (“hard”)); or even yet from Frankish *hardig (compare Middle Low German herdich (“persevering”), Old Danish hærdig, Norwegian herdig, Swedish härdig (“vigorous, courageous”)). Cognate with hard. May have at some point also been surface analysed as hard + -y.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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