"named, called" (archaic), M.E. highte, from O.E. hatte "I am called" (passive of hatan "to call, name, command") merged with heht "called," active past tense of the same verb. Hatte was the only survival in O.E. of the old Gmc. synthetic passive tense. It is related to O.N. heita, Du. heten, Ger. heißen, Goth. haitan "to call, be called, command" (see cite).
[hahy-test] 
