hart
/hɑːt
/noun
An adult male deer, especially a red deer over five years old.The Arthurian legends are widespread in the Borders and it is claimed that King Arthur's wise counsellor, Merlin the Magician, roamed these slopes in the guise of a hart, the small deer associated with royalty....
- ‘The moose is actually a hart - a male deer - which represents the hart part of Hertfordshire,’ says Tim Beesley, from Berkhamsted, Herts.
- A small deer sipped from a pond of clear water, the hart surprisingly not running as Rick rose and approached like deer tend to.
Origin
Old English heorot, heort, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hert and German Hirsch.