From Middle English hien, hyen, highen, heiȝen, hiȝen, from Old English hīgian (“to hie, hasten, strive”), from Proto-West Germanic *hīgōn, from Proto-Germanic *hīgōną (“to breathe, snort”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱēygʰ- (“swift, fierce, violent”).
Cognate with Dutch hijgen (“to pant”), German heichen (“to choke, gasp for breath”), Danish hige (“to aspire, long”), Latin cieō (“set in motion, invoke, provoke”), Ancient Greek κινέω (kinéō, “move, set in motion”).
From Middle English hien, hyen, highen, heiȝen, hiȝen, from Old English hīgian (“to hie, hasten, strive”), from Proto-West Germanic *hīgōn, from Proto-Germanic *hīgōną (“to breathe, snort”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱēygʰ- (“swift, fierce, violent”).
Cognate with Dutch hijgen (“to pant”), German heichen (“to choke, gasp for breath”), Danish hige (“to aspire, long”), Latin cieō (“set in motion, invoke, provoke”), Ancient Greek κινέω (kinéō, “move, set in motion”).
Meanings
(intransitive, poetic) To hasten; to go quickly, to hurry.
Hath pleased you, and eased you, and sweet slumber seized you. And now to bed I hie. 1605, “Rest Sweet Nymphs”, Francis Pilkington (music):
But after her lover Amyntas hied. 1599, “Fair Phyllis”, John Farmer (music):
At break of morn she hies to yonder abbey 1781, Horace Walpole, The Mysterious Mother, Act 1 Scene 2:
The youth, returning to his mistress, hies. 1717, William Congreve, Samuel Croxall, John Dryden, Laurence Eusden, John Ozell, “Book X”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
(poetic, reflexive) To hurry (oneself).
My husband hies him home. c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:
Some have conjectured hastily that all Southerners in town hie themselves to cafés at nightfall. 1906, O. Henry, A Cosmopolite in a Café:
(transitive) To urge (a horse) to the left with a cry of "hie".
cs spěchat (to go in haste) · fi kiirehtiä (to go in haste) · aln përgut (to go in haste) · sq gutem (to hurry (oneself)) · ru торопи́ться (to go in haste) · fi kiiruhtaa (to go in haste) · fr se dépêcher (to go in haste) · sq nxitim (to go in haste) · es darse prisa (to go in haste) · es darse prisa (to hurry (oneself)) · ru спешить (to go in haste) · fr se hâter (to go in haste) · es apresurarse (to go in haste) · de eilen (to go in haste) · hu igyekszik (to go in haste) · sq nxitoj (to hurry (oneself)) · it affrettarsi (to go in haste) · hu siet (to go in haste) · es apresurarse (to hurry (oneself))