Harness

How to spell harness

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce harness

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does harness mean?

1. nounA set of straps and fittings used to secure a person or animal, or to attach a working animal to a load.
2. verbTo bring something under control and put it to productive use.

Harness in a sentence

• noun

  The climber checked every buckle on the safety harness before the descent.

• verb

  The company aims to harness solar power for its entire factory.

• noun

  The farmer fitted the heavy harness onto the plough horse.

• verb

  Good managers harness the talents of their whole team.

Where does harness come from?

Language of origin: French

Harness came into English in the early 1200s from the Old French word harneis, which meant military equipment, armour, or baggage carried by an army. The ultimate origin is debated, but many scholars trace it to an Old Norse compound built from herr, meaning 'army', and nest, meaning 'provisions' or 'supplies', so the literal idea was the gear an army needed in the field. In English the meaning gradually narrowed from soldierly equipment in general to the straps and fittings used to attach a horse to a cart or plough, and from there to any arrangement of belts that secures a body. The figurative verb sense, to bring something under control and put it to work, grew naturally out of the image of strapping a powerful animal to a useful task. A handy spelling reminder is that the word keeps its single r but doubles the s at the end, an ending that looks odd because it does not match the simpler French source.

How the word is built

• harness (single root, from Old French harneis: equipment, gear); note the single r and the doubled final -ss