From Middle English hound, from Old English hund, from Proto-West Germanic *hund, from Proto-Germanic *hundaz. Doublet of canine. Cognate with Dutch hond (“dog”), German Hund (“dog”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish hund (“dog”), Faroese and Icelandic hundur (“dog”). In 14th-century England, hound was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog (much as the distinction between Hund and Dogge in contemporary German). By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting.
1
A dog, particularly a breed with a good sense of smell developed for hunting other animals.
2
Any canine animal.
3
Broadly Someone who seeks something.
On the way out of the building I was asked for my autograph. If I'd known who the signature hound thought I was, I would've signed appropriately.1996, Marc Parent, Turning Stones, Harcourt Brace & Company, →ISBN, page 93:
I still do not know if he's taken on this case because he's a glory hound, because he wants the PR, or if he simply wanted to help Anna.2004, Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper, Simon & Schuster,, →ISBN, page 483:
4
Broadly A male who constantly seeks the company of desirable women.
"She had a good many successors, John." "You are such a hound, in that respect, Goodson," said Claywell, "and you have always been such a hound, that it astounds me to find you—unaccompanied."1915, Norman Duncan, "A Certain Recipient", in Harper's, volume 122, number 787, December 1915, republished in Harper's Monthly Magazine, volume 122, December 1915 to May 1916, page 108, "Are you alone, Goodson? […] I thought, perhaps, that the […] young woman, Goodson, who supplanted Mary?" […]
5
A despicable person.
Boy! false hound!c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene vi]:
I turned away and left her to finish her journey in peace, feeling, but only for a moment or two, that I had been an unutterably mean hound.1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Phantom Rickshaw”, in The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales, Allahabad: A.H. Wheeler and Co., page 12:
1 more example
'You blackmailing hound,' the parrot said distinctly, in what Hodges recognized as General Derby's voice. Anstruther turned pale.1973, Elizabeth Walter, Come and Get Me and Other Uncanny Invitations:
Etymology From Middle English hounden, from the noun (see above).
1
To persistently harass doggedly.
He hounded me for weeks, but I was simply unable to pay back his loan.
More pertinently for the plot, another marked difference from history is that the United Kingdom of this 1982 is precociously computerised. Instead of having been hounded to death for his homosexuality, the scientist Alan Turing is thriving and lauded.2019 April 11, Marcel Theroux, “Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan review – intelligent mischief”, in The Guardian:
2
Archaic To urge on against; to set (dogs) upon in hunting.
We both thought we saw what had the appearance to be a fox, and hounded the dogs at it, but they would not pursue it.1897, Andrew Lang, The Book of Dreams and Ghosts, page 162:
Etymology From Middle English hownde, hount, houn, probably from Old Norse húnn, from Proto-Germanic *hūnaz.
1
Nautical, TransportIn plural Projections located at the masthead or foremast, serving as a support for the trestletrees and top on which to rest; a foretop.
2
A side bar used to strengthen portions of the running gear of a vehicle.