heath
noun/hiːθ/
Etymology From Middle English heth, heeth, hethe, from Old English hǣþ (“heath, untilled land, waste; heather”), from Proto-West Germanic *haiþi, from Proto-Germanic *haiþī (“heath, waste, untilled land”), from Proto-Indo-European *kayt- (“forest, wasteland, pasture”). Cognate with Dutch heide (“heath, moorland”), German Heide (“heath, moor”), Norwegian hei (“heath”), Swedish hed (“heath, moorland”), Old Welsh coit (“forest”), Welsh coed (“forest”), Latin būcētum (“pastureland”, literally “cow-pasture”) -cetum (“place of, grove of”).
13 senses
- 1A tract of level uncultivated land with sandy soil and…
- 2Any small evergreen shrub of the family Ericaceae.
- 3in Erica spp.
- 4in Cassiope spp.
- 5in Daboecia spp.
- 6in Epacris spp. (Australian heath)
- 7in Leucopogon spp. (beard heath)
- 8in Phyllodoce spp. (mountain heath)
- 9Coenonympha pamphilus, native to Europe, Asia except…
- 10Coenonympha tullia, native to Europe, Asia except…
- 11Melitaea athalia (heath fritillary)
- 12Semiothisa clathrata (latticed heath)
- 13Ematurga atomaria (common heath)
A tract of level uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation; heathland.
- 1. Where the place?/2. Vpon the Heath/3. There to meet with Macbethc. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- These two stood in the corridor, waving till the last of the platform was out of sight; then they came into our compartment, and the woman cried a little. Soon she dried her eyes, and went back into the corridor, to have a last glimpse of her native heath.1955 May, Rev. A. W. V. Mace, “An Irish Journey—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 303:
Any small evergreen shrub of the family Ericaceae.
- There was nobody living in Jim's old house, and some of the windows was broken; but there was heath growing back and front.1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 258:
in Erica spp.
in Cassiope spp.
in Daboecia spp.
in Epacris spp. (Australian heath)
in Leucopogon spp. (beard heath)
in Phyllodoce spp. (mountain heath)
› Any butterfly or moth of species: › Coenonympha spp., a genus of brush-footed…
Coenonympha pamphilus, native to Europe, Asia except tropical India and Indochina, and Northern Africa, the small heath
Coenonympha tullia, native to Europe, Asia except tropical India and Indochina, and North America, the large heath
› Any butterfly or moth of species:
Melitaea athalia (heath fritillary)
Semiothisa clathrata (latticed heath)
Ematurga atomaria (common heath)
- Synonyms
- heather
- Derived terms
122 terms
alkali heath, Balkan heath, black heath, blunt-leaf heath, bolster heath, chalk heath, common heath, coral heath, cranberry heath, cross-leaved heath, cross-leaf heath, cushion heath, dune heath, fine-leaved heath, French heath, fringed heath, grass heath, heath aster, heath bell, heath-blue, heathclad, heath cock, heath hen, heath cypress, heath fritillary, heath grass, Heath Green, Heath Hill, heathland, heath pea, heath rush, heath speedwell, heath spotted orchid, heath throstle, heath violet, heath woodrush, heathwort, heath-wren, heath wren, heathwren), honeysuckle heath, Irish heath, large heath, latticed heath, mountain heath, native heath, prickly heath, red heath, Scotch heath, sea-heath, sea heath, small heath Coenonympha pamphilus), spike heath, spring heath, tree heath, true heath, twisted heath, West Heath, winter heath, Ashley Heath, Balsall Heath, Bentley Heath, Blackheath, Blindley Heath, Brindle Heath, Brindley Heath, Bromley Heath, Burgh Heath, Bushey Heath, Chadwell Heath, Charing Heath, Cheadle Heath, Coalpit Heath, Copt Heath, Cradley Heath, Dickens Heath, Donington le Heath, Fernhill Heath, Flackwell Heath, Forest Heath, Gillow Heath, Gnosall Heath, Hampstead Heath, Haywards Heath, Heath Charnock, Heath End, Heathfield, Heathrow, Heath Town, Hoath, Holton Heath, Hopton Heath, Hothfield, Hounslow Heath, Hyde Heath, Iver Heath, Kings Heath, Lenham Heath, Locks Heath, Lydham Heath, Newton Heath, No Man's Heath, Parson's Heath, Short Heath, Small Heath, South Heath, Squirrels Heath, Stanton upon Hine Heath, St Giles on the Heath, Stockton Heath, Surrey Heath, Thornton Heath, Washwood Heath, Whitacre Heath, Whitmore Heath, Heathcliff, heathcropper, heathen, heathery, heathless, heathlike, heathy