Why Is It Called Hoarfrost? It Covered Everything Today
For another day, we woke up to see the heavy white frost, called Hoarfrost, covering everything. The trees, power lines, street signs, everything that was uncovered. I think it's amazing to look at and really enjoy seeing the pictures of hoarfrost covering everything. If you can get a picture with the sun shining, even better. No such luck today though.
Asking around here, not everyone had heard the term "hoarfrost" and I'm not going to name names....that got me to thinking, where does the term "hoarfrost" come from? This is what I found out:
The term “hoar” goes back to Old English, (the word “har” meaning “gray, venerable, old” – from Dictionary.com). In German, “Herr” refers to a title of respect (also Dictionary.com). Finally, “Of frost, it is recorded in O.E. (hoar-frost is c.1290), expressing the resemblance of the white feathers of frost to an old man’s beard” (Dictionary.com).
No matter what you call it, or why you call it that, I think we can all agree it makes for some great pictures and adds to the festivities of the season.