heath

See also: Heath

English

Etymology

From Middle English heeth, heth, 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”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /hiːθ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːθ

Noun

heath (countable and uncountable, plural heaths)

1. A tract of level uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation; heathland.
   • c. 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]:

     1. Where the place?/2. Vpon the Heath/3. There to meet with Macbeth

2. Any small evergreen shrub of the family Ericaceae.
   • 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 258:

     There was nobody living in Jim's old house, and some of the windows was broken; but there was heath growing back and front.

   1. in Erica spp.
   2. in Cassiope spp.
   3. in Daboecia spp.
   4. in Epacris spp. (Australian heath)
   5. in Leucopogon spp. (beard heath)
   6. in Phyllodoce spp. (mountain heath)
3. (countable) Any butterfly or moth of species:
   1. Coenonympha spp., a genus of brush-footed butterfly, of the palaearctic.
      1. Coenonympha pamphilus, native to Europe, Asia except tropical India and Indochina, and Northern Africa, the small heath
      2. Coenonympha tullia, native to Europe, Asia except tropical India and Indochina, and North America, the large heath
   2. Melitaea athalia (heath fritillary)
   3. Semiothisa clathrata (latticed heath)
   4. Ematurga atomaria (common heath)

Usage notes

• The word heaths may describe multiple disconnected heathlands.

Synonyms

• (shrub): heather

Derived terms

• alkali heath (Frankenia grandifolia)
• Ashley Heath
• Balkan heath
• Balsall Heath
• Bentley Heath
• black heath (Erica cinerea)
• blunt-leaf heath (Epacris obtusifolia)
• bolster heath
• Brindle Heath
• Bromley Heath
• Bushey Heath
• Chadwell Heath
• chalk heath
• Charing Heath
• Cheadle Heath
• Coalpit Heath
• common heath (Epacris obtusifolia, Epacris impressa)
• Copt Heath
• coral heath
• Cradley Heath
• cranberry heath (Astroloma humifusum, Styphelia humifusum)
• cross-leaved heath, cross-leaf heath (Erica tetralix)
• cushion heath
• Dickens Heath
• Donington le Heath
• dune heath
• Fernhill Heath
• fine-leaved heath (Erica cinerea)
• Flackwell Heath
• Forest Heath
• French heath
• fringed heath (Erica ciliaris)
• Gillow Heath
• grass heath
• Hampstead Heath
• Haywards Heath
• heath aster (Symphyotrichum spp.)
• heath bell (Erica spp.)
• heath-blue (Neolucia spp.)
• Heath Charnock
• heathclad
• heath cock, heath hen (Lyrurus tetrix)
• heath cypress (Diphasiastrum alpinum, syn. Lycopodium alpinum)
• Heath End
• Heathfield
• heath fritillary (Melitaea athalia)
• heath grass (Danthonia decumbens)
• heath pea (Lathyrus linifolius)
• heath rush (Juncus squarrosus)
• heath speedwell (Veronica officinalis)
• heath spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata)
• heath throstle
• Heath Town
• heath violet (Viola canina)
• heath woodrush (Luzula multiflora)
• heathwort
• heath-wren
• heath wren, heathwren (Hylacola spp.))
• Hoath
• Holton Heath
• Hopton Heath
• Hothfield
• Hounslow Heath
• Irish heath (Daboecia cantabrica)
• Kings Heath
• large heath (Coenonympha tullia)
• latticed heath (Chiasmia clathrata)
• Lenham Heath
• Locks Heath
• mountain heath (Phyllodoce caerulea)
• Newton Heath
• No Man's Heath
• Parson's Heath
• red heath (Erica abietina, Calluna vulgaris, etc.)
• Scotch heath (Erica cinerea, Calluna vulgaris)
• sea-heath
• sea heath (Frankenia laevis)
• Short Heath
• small heath Coenonympha pamphilus)
• Small Heath (place)
• South Heath
• spike heath
• spring heath (Erica carnea)
• Squirrels Heath
• St Giles on the Heath
• Stockton Heath
• Surrey Heath
• Thornton Heath
• tree heath (Erica arborea)
• true heath (Erica spp.)
• twisted heath (Erica cinerea)
• Washwood Heath
• Whitacre Heath
• Whitmore Heath
• winter heath (Erica carnea)

 

Translations

type of land

• Belarusian: пу́стка f (pústka), пустэ́ча f (pustéča)
• Breton: lann (br) m
• Bulgarian: пу́стош (bg) f (pústoš)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 荒地 (zh) (huāngdì), 荒野 (zh) (huāngyě)

• Czech: vřesoviště n
• Dutch: heide (nl) f, hei (nl) f
• Esperanto: erikejo
• Estonian: nõmm (et)
• Finnish: nummi (fi)
• French: lande (fr) f, bruyère (fr) f
• Galician: bouza (gl), braña (gl)
• German: Heide (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌸𐌹 f (haiþi)
• Greek: θαμνότοπος (el) m (thamnótopos), ξερότοπος (el) m (xerótopos)
• Hungarian: puszta (hu), pusztaság (hu)
• Icelandic: heiði
• Italian: brughiera (it) f, landa (it) f
• Low German:

  German Low German: Heid f, Heidloo n

• Norman: lande f
• Occitan: landa (oc) f
• Old English: hǣþ f
• Polish: wrzosowisko (pl) n
• Portuguese: charneca (pt) f
• Russian: пу́стошь (ru) f (pústošʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: pustara (sh) f, vriština (sh) f

• Spanish: páramo (es) m, brezal
• Swedish: hed (sv) c, hedmark (sv)
• Turkish: funda (tr)
• Ukrainian: пу́стище n (pústyšče), пу́стка f (pústka)
• Volapük: brüyäralän (vo)
• Welsh: rhos f

shrub of the family Ericaceae

• Armenian: հավամրգի (hy) (havamrgi)
• Bulgarian: пирен m (piren), изтравниче n (iztravniče)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: vřesovec m, vřes m
• Dutch: heide (nl) f, hei (nl) f
• Esperanto: eriko
• Finnish: varpu (fi) (common); kanervakasvi (fi) (botanical)
• French: bruyère (fr) f
• Galician: uz (gl) f, breixo (gl) m, queiroa (gl) f, torga (gl) f
• German: Heide (de) f
• Greek: ρείκι (el) n (reíki)

  Ancient: ἐρείκη f (ereíkē)

• Hungarian: hanga (hu)
• Icelandic: lyng (is) n
• Italian: erica (it) f
• Japanese: ヒース (ja) (hīsu)
• Low German:

  German Low German: Heid f

• Norwegian: lyng n
• Old Norse: lyng n
• Polish: wrzos (pl) m
• Portuguese: urze (pt) m
• Russian: ве́реск (ru) m (véresk)
• Scottish Gaelic: fraoch m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: vrijes (sh) m

• Spanish: brezo (es) m
• Swedish: ljung (sv) c
• Turkish: funda (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} врес m (vres)
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} fraoch m

Anagrams

• theah, hathe