hauntedadj.
1. Practised; used, habituated, or accustomed (to a course); wonted. Obsolete exc. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [adjective] > accustomed, used, or wont
wontc888
haunteda1325
accustomed1429
consuetec1503
acquainted1572
frequent1575
occasioned1576
fain1596
wontlike1601
habited1605
habituate1606
wonted1611
practised1656
a1325 Prose Psalter cxviii[i]. 15 Y shal be haunted [L. exercebor] in thy comaundement.
c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 17 Bewtyfied with hawntid and vsuall tokenys of celestiall vertu.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid v. vi. 31 Hantit to ryn in wodis [L. assueti silvis] and in schawis.
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 126 Hee..keepeth them a weeke till they bee wonted and hanted togeather.
1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. 251 Haunted, To be, to grow used to, or become accustomed.
2.
a. Frequented by many people, much resorted to.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > place of resort > [adjective] > (much) frequented
frequentc1540
haunted1576
well-frequented1578
frequented1601
1576 T. Newton tr. L. Lemnie Touchstone of Complexions i. vii. f. 48v Their populous and great haunted Cities.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. ii. 359 Africke hath ever beene the least knowen and haunted parte in the world.
1838 W. M. Praed Home of Childhood ii The play-haunted lawn.
b. Frequented by noxious creatures; infested.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by nature > [adjective] > noxious or pestilential > infested with vermin
verminous1641
haunted1822
vermined1852
verminy1859
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > infestation by noxious creatures > [adjective]
verminous1641
haunted1822
vermined1852
verminy1859
infested1893
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. IV. 645 A few instances..of plants and animals in perfect health being thus haunted.
1887 J. M. Brown Shikar Sketches 14 A tiger-haunted jungle.
3.
a. Frequented or much visited by spirits, imaginary beings, apparitions, spectres, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > ghost or phantom > [adjective] > filled with spectres
ghostly1657
haunted1711
spectred1791
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 347 The Isle of Devills, so called because they hold it to be haunted with spirits.]
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 110. ¶1 I like this Walk the better, because of an ill Report it lies under of being haunted.
1832 W. Irving Alhambra I. 110 Here was the haunted wing of the castle.
1848 C. Dickens (title) The haunted man.
1859 All Year Round Extra Christmas No., 13 Dec. 1/1 (title) The haunted house.
b. In wider use.
ΚΠ
1906 Daily Chron. 23 Feb. 3/4 The beauty-haunted eyes of such painters as Gainsborough, Romney, Botticelli.
1906 H. R. Haggard Benita vii Staring at the white Benita and at her haunted eyes.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 17 Aug. 3/1 He paces the garden in this haunting, haunted fashion.
1910 A. C. Benson Silent Isle xv You become aware that some exquisite haunted quality has slipped away from the later work.
Compounds
haunted-looking adj.
ΚΠ
1883 R. Gower My Reminisc. II. 26 A low, long, damp, haunted-looking gallery.
1918 M. B. Lowndes Out of War? xx. 257 Haunted-looking eyes.
Derivatives
ˈhauntedness n.
ΚΠ
1888 A. M. Jocelyn £100,000 versus Ghosts II. ix. 134 That will put a stop to its hauntedness.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.a1325