Meaning

noun a sheltered port where ships can take on or discharge cargo

noun a place of refuge and comfort and security

verb maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings)

originFrom Middle English herberwe, herber, from Old English herebeorg (“shelter, lodgings, quarters”), from Proto-West Germanic *harjabergu (“army shelter, refuge”), from *harjaz (“army”) + *bergō (“protection”), equivalent to Old English here (“army, host”) + beorg (“defense, protection, refuge”). The final syllable was subsequently altered by analogy with the Anglo‐Norman and Old French suffix -or…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0