heathn.
/hiːθ/, U.S. /hiθ/ 1. † b. transferred. Part of a garden left more or less in the wild state. Obsolete.
a. Open uncultivated ground; an extensive tract of waste land; a wilderness; now chiefly applied to a bare, more or less flat, tract of land, naturally clothed with low herbage and dwarf shrubs, esp. with the shrubby plants known as heath, heather or ling. In Middle English often contrasted with holt or wood.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun] > moor or heath
mooreOE
moorlandeOE
heathOE
fella1400
burgh-moorc1600
rosland1704
heath-land1819
wallum1965
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > heather or heath and similar plants > [noun]
heather1335
ling?c1357
heath1626
grig1691
bottle heath?1711
sea-heath1713
heather-bell1725
red heath?1788
Calluna1803
Scotch heath1822
Erica1826
winter heath1842
heathwort1847
heath-blooms1858
St. Dabeoc's heath1863
cat-heather1864
honey bottle1868
French heath1871
OE Exodus 118 Niwe nihtweard nyde sceold wician ofer weredum, þy læs him westengryre, har hæðbroga, holmegum wederum on ferclamme ferhð getwæfde.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 6397 I wude i wilderne inne hæðe & inne uærne.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8864 Ffro stede to stede þey fledde to sculk, On heþ & hilles to hyde in hulk.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 6 Whan zephirus..Inspired hath in euery holt and heeth The tendre croppes.
1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy i. iii On holte and hethe the merye somers daye.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 231/1 Hethe a playne, lande.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Jer. xii. 12 The distroyers come ouer the heeth euery waye [1611 upon all high places through the wilderness].
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1350 The Troiens..Fleddon..Ouer hilles & hethes into holte woddes.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 383 [They] met the King on the Hethe on this side Shene.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §834 Some Woods of Orenges, and Heathes of Rose Mary, will Smell a great way into the Sea.
1674 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation i. 66 As for high Downs or Heaths, the best are about Marlborough, Sarisbury, Cirencester, and Lincoln.
1784–92 J. Belknap Hist. New Hampsh. in Morse Amer. Geog. (1796) I. 366 A large area, called the plain. It is a dry heath, composed of rocks covered with moss.
1787 A. Young Jrnl. 3 June in Trav. France (1792) i. 20 An uninteresting flat with many heaths of ling.
1815 tr. Duc de Lévis Eng. at Beginning 19th Cent. 12 A Common..the English distinguish these uncultivated lands..into heaths and pastures.
1872 E. W. Robertson Hist. Ess. 246 At a comparatively recent period..in many parts of England..the Common of modern days was known as ‘the heath’ or ‘the waste’.
ΚΠ
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 271 Gardens..to be diuided into..A Greene in the Entrance; A Heath or Desart in the Going forth; And the maine Garden in the midst.
2. A name given to plants and shrubs found upon heaths or in open or waste places.† a. In early times vaguely applied or identified. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by habitat or distribution > [noun] > growing in meadow, pasture, or heath
heatha700
mead-flower1826
pascual1847
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > names applied to various plants > [noun]
heatha700
beeworteOE
leversc725
springworteOE
clotec1000
halswortc1000
sengreenc1000
bottle?a1200
bird's-tonguea1300
bloodworta1300
faverolea1300
vetchc1300
pimpernel1378
oniona1398
bird's nest?a1425
adder's grassc1450
cockheada1500
ambrosia1525
fleawort1548
son before the father1552
crow-toe1562
basil1578
bird's-foot1578
bloodroot1578
throatwort1578
phalangium1608
yew1653
chalcedon1664
dittany1676
bleeding heart1691
felon-wort1706
hedgehog1712
land caltrops1727
old man's beard1731
loosestrife1760
Solomon's seal1760
fireweed1764
desert rose1792
star of Bethlehem1793
hen and chickens1794
Aaron's beard1820
felon-grass1824
arrowroot1835
snake-root1856
firebush1858
tick-seed1860
bird's eye1863
burning bush1866
rat-tail1871
lamb's earsa1876
lamb's tongue plant1882
tar-weed1884
Tom Thumb1886
parrotbeak1890
stinkweed1932
a700 Epinal Gloss. 1007 Thymus, haeth.
a800 Erfurt Gloss. 269 Calomacus, haeth.
a800 Erfurt Gloss. 2012 Thymus, haedth.
a1400 J. Mirfield Sinonoma Bartholomei (1882) 33 Paliurus, heth.
a1400 J. Mirfield Sinonoma Bartholomei (1882) 30 Mirix, Mirica, idem, bruer heath, sive genesta.
b. The ordinary name for undershrubs of the Linnæan genus Erīca, of which the common native species are E. (now Calluna) vulgaris, common heath, heather, or ling, E. cinerea fine-leaved heath (the ‘common heath’ of some parts), and E. tetralix cross-leaved heath. By botanical writers sometimes limited to the modern genus Erica, sometimes extended to other cognate genera of Ericaceæ.The name heath seems native to the south and middle of England: see heather n. Since the ‘common heath’ is now separated from the genus Erica, botanical writers sometimes distinguish it from the ‘true heaths’ by its northern names ling n.2 and heather n.; but locally all three names include all the native species. Of early botanical writers, Turner mentions only E. vulgaris, Lyte (transl. Dodoens), E. vulgaris and tetralix, distinguished as ‘long heath’ and ‘smal heath’.
ΚΠ
c1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 354 Wið liþa sare..smeoce mid hæþe, and þæt ylce on wine drince.
c1325 Know Thyself 30 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 131 What is al þat forþ is past Hit fareþ as fuir of heth.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 238/2 Hethe or lynge, fowaly, bruarium.
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. C.viijv Erice is called in greeke Ereice, it is named in english Heth hather, or ling..it groweth on frith and wyld mores, some vse to make brusshes of heath.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball vi. xvi. 677 There is in this Countrie two kindes of Heath, one..is called long Heath. The other..smal Heath.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. i. 62 Now would I giue a thousand furlongs of Sea, for an Acre of barren ground: Long heath, Browne firrs, anything. View more context for this quotation
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. ix. 379 They frequently used the Erica vulgaris, heath, or ling instead of hopps to preserve their beer.
1728 J. Thomson Spring 26 Oft, of bolder Wing, he dares The Purple Heath, or where the Wild-Thyme grows.
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xix. 265 Common Heath..is distinguished by the anthers being terminated with an awn, and lying within the flower.
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xix. 265 Fine-leaved Heath has crested anthers lying within the corol.
1834 M. Somerville On Connexion Physical Sci. (1849) xxvii. 307 Heaths are exclusively confined to the Old World.
1858 R. Hogg Veg. Kingdom 482 The Common Heath, or Ling, of the hills of Britain, is Calluna vulgaris..With Heath, cottages are thatched, besoms are made, and faggots are composed to burn in ovens.
1858 R. Hogg Veg. Kingdom 483 The Heaths [of] our greenhouses are all natives of the Cape of Good Hope, and embrace upwards of six hundred species and varieties.
c. With distinctive additions, applied to other species of Erica, and allied genera; and popularly to some other plants.The three less common British species are the ciliated heath, Cornish heath, and Mediterranean heaths ( E. ciliaris, vagans, Mediterranea); other species are Sicilian heath, Spanish heath, tree heath. American false heath n. Hudsonia ericoides. Australian heath n. Epacris grandiflora. Otago heath n. Leucopogon Fraseri. sea heath n. Frankenia levis. Tasmanian heath n. Epacris exserta.† heath of Jericho n. Obsolete Rose of Jericho, Anastatica Hierochuntina. Irish heath: see Irish adj. and n. Compounds 2. black-berried heath, winter heath: see the first element.
ΚΠ
1617 J. Minsheu Ἡγεμὼν είς τὰς γλῶσσας: Ductor in Linguas Heath of Jericho, erica Hiericontœa, quod similitudinem aliquam habeat cum erica.
d. In two passages (Jeremiah xvii. 6, xlviii. 6) in Coverdale's and later versions of the Bible, applied to some desert plant, identified variously with Tamarisk, or with Savin, Juniperus Sabina.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > unidentified or variously identified plants > biblical, mythical, or plants of antiquity > [noun]
honeysucklea1387
heath1535
bulbine1548
tragium1567
alimon1572
behen1578
ephemeron1578
spattania1583
cassia1594
anacampserote1601
springwort1862
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Jer. xvii. 6 He shall be like the heeth, that groweth in the wildernes [1382 Wyclif iencian trees, 1388 bromes, 1611 heath, 1885 ( R.V.) marg. Or, a tamarisk].
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Jer. xlviii. 6 Get you awaye..and be like vnto the heeth in ye wildernes [ Wyclif, 1611 and R.V. as before].
3. Short for heath butterfly, moth: see Compounds 2c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Rhopalocera (butterflies) > [noun] > family Satyridae > genus Hipparchia > member of (heath)
heath1824
1824 L. Jermyn Butterfly Collector's Vade Mecum *20 (table) Ringlets... Typhon, Scarce Heath. Pamphilus, Small Heath... Ocellated... Pilosellæ, Large Heath.
1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 101 The Brown Heath (F[idonia] atomaria, Haworth)..Common.
1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 102 The Grey Heath (F. ericetaria, Stephens) appears in August.
1871 E. Newman Brit. Butterflies (1874) 93 The Large Heath, Epinephele Tithonus.
1871 E. Newman Brit. Butterflies (1874) 101 The Small Heath, Cœnonympha Pamphilus.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a. Simple attributive.
heath-bank n.
ΚΠ
1813 S. T. Coleridge Remorse iii. i. 33 Stretch'd on the broad top of a sunny heath-bank.
heath-besom n.
heath-broom n.
ΚΠ
1874 P.O. Lond. Trades Directory Heath Broom Makers.
heath-bush n.
ΚΠ
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur xxi. iv Ryght soo came an adder oute of a lytel hethe busshe.
heath-field n.
ΚΠ
c909 Charter of Eadweard in Cod. Dipl. V. 177 Ðonan to higgeate; ðæt utt on ðone hæðfeld.
heath-fire n.
ΚΠ
1789 G. White Nat. Hist. Selborne 20 About March or April..vast heath-fires are lighted up.
heath-flower n.
ΚΠ
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake i. 23 A foot more light..Ne'er from the heath-flower dashed the dew.
1830 M. R. Mitford Our Village IV. 102 The ruddy glow of the heath-flower.
heath-ground n.
ΚΠ
?1530 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry (rev. ed.) f. i Som sande..and in many places hethe grounde.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler 222 Ploughing up heath~ground . View more context for this quotation
heath-honey n.
ΚΠ
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 184 Heath Hony, a wyld kind of Hony..being geathered..whyle the Heath is in flowre.
heath-land n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun] > moor or heath
mooreOE
moorlandeOE
heathOE
fella1400
burgh-moorc1600
rosland1704
heath-land1819
wallum1965
1819 A. Rees Cycl. XVII Heath-plough, a plough for preparing heath-land for planting.
1936 Discovery Jan. 25/1 Only about 50,000 acres of Breckland remain at the present moment as heathland.
1954 M. Beresford Lost Villages Eng. vi. 200 This was forest, scrub or rough heathland.
1966 M. R. D. Foot SOE in France xii. 407 Bourgoin was too wily a fighter to be rounded up methodically in his heathland base.
heath-man n.
heath-mould n.
ΚΠ
1856 ‘E. S. Delamer’ Flower Garden 118 In pots, Heaths must have heath-mould.
heath-mutton n.
ΚΠ
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker II. 8 As much superior in flavour..as my heath-mutton is to that of St. James's-market.
heath-pony n.
heath-snail n.
heath-soil n.
heath-tribe n.
ΚΠ
1853 C. A. Johns Flowers of Field (1885) 392 Ericaceæ, the Heath Tribe.
b. Objective and objective genitive.
(a)
heath-cropping adj.
(b)
heath-keeper n.
ΚΠ
1895 St. James's Gaz. 10 Sept. 9/2 An auxiliary heathkeeper in the employment of the London County Council.
heath-tramper n.
c. Locative and instrumental.
heath-bred adj.
ΚΠ
1611 J. Davies Epigr. ccli, in Scourge of Folly 121 That Heath-bredde Muse.
heath-clad adj.
ΚΠ
1766 J. Cunningham Day vii On the heath-clad hill.
heath-grown adj.
heath-roofed adj.
ΚΠ
1805 J. Grahame Sabbath (ed. 2) 81 Yon heath-roof'd shielin.
heath-thatched adj.
ΚΠ
1832 T. Carlyle Reminisc. (1881) I. 51 This little heath-thatched house.
d.
heath-like adj.
ΚΠ
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) vii. 122 A barren, heath-like plain.
C2. Special combinations.
a. † heath-coal n. Obsolete see heathen-coal n.
heath-ale n. a traditional beverage said to have been anciently brewed from the flowers of heather.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > ale or beer > non-malted brews > [noun] > others
kvassa1556
locus ale1693
honey beer1731
maple beer1788
heath-ale1801
treacle beer1806
root beer1815
treacle alea1833
gale-beer1863
nettle beer1864
shimiyana1870
birch beer1883
parsnip beer1897
skokiaan1926
1801 J. Leyden Elfin-King xxi The cup..With heath-ale mantling o'er.
1828 W. Scott Rev. Ritson's Hist. in Wks. (1849) 356 The genuine heath-ale of the Picts.
heath-beer n. = heath-beer n.
heath-blooms n. a name given by some to the plants of the Natural Order Ericaceæ.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > heather or heath and similar plants > [noun]
heather1335
ling?c1357
heath1626
grig1691
bottle heath?1711
sea-heath1713
heather-bell1725
red heath?1788
Calluna1803
Scotch heath1822
Erica1826
winter heath1842
heathwort1847
heath-blooms1858
St. Dabeoc's heath1863
cat-heather1864
honey bottle1868
French heath1871
1858 R. Hogg Veg. Kingdom 479 Ericaceæ, Heath-blooms.
heath-cropper n. literal one that crops or feeds on heath; a sheep or pony, living on open heath or down; hence, a person who inhabits a heath.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > inhabitant according to environment > [noun] > dweller on moor or heath
moorlander1643
moormana1712
heath-cropper1819
moorsman1889
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [noun] > Ovus Aries (domestic sheep) > defined by habitat
mountain sheep1596
fold1669
heath-cropper1819
bush-sheep1870
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > equus caballus or horse > [noun] > defined by size > small > pony > with particular characteristics
heath-cropper1819
show pony1842
piney-wood tacky1846
shaganappi1879
raw1895
1819 A. Rees Cycl. XXXII. at Sheep Heath-cropper, a small ill-shaped breed..of sheep..found abundantly..within the precincts of the forest of Windsor.
1863 C. Kingsley Water-babies ii. 62 You are a heath-cropper bred and born.
1893 H. J. Moule Old Dorset 109 They tramped, or rode their shaggy heath-croppers.
heath-fowl n. = heath-bird n.
ΚΠ
1804 J. Grahame Sabbath 20 The heathfowl's plumes.
1823 in J. Baillie Coll. of Poems 287 Conceal'd 'mong the mist, where the heath-fowl was crying.
heath-game n. grouse or moorfowl.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Tetraonidae (grouse) > [noun] > member of (grouse) > collective or group of
pack1688
heath-game1711
the world > animals > birds > order Gruiformes > [noun] > family Rallidae (rail) > genus Gallinula > gallinula chloropus (moor-hen)
moorhena1350
water henc1520
moat-hen1544
moor coot?1606
mud hen1611
marsh hen1709
heath-game1711
stank-hen1766
clapper rail1813
skitty1813
kitty-coot1885
1711 Act 9 Anne c. 27 §3 Heath-Game or Grouse.
1774 D. Barrington in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 63 229 The claws of our common Grous, or Heath-game.
heath plover n. = golden plover n. at golden adj. and n. Compounds 3a.
heath-stone n. see quots.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > stone or rock > [noun] > building stone > types of sandstone for building
heath-stone1447
brownstone1780
Mansfield1842
pietra serena1873
1447–8 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 399 Ragge hethstones and Flints to be purveid for the seid werkes.
1813 G. Robertson Agric. Surv. Kincardine 3 (Jam.) There is a variety..known under the name of Heathens or heath-stone, and is I think what is otherwise called Gneiss.
1860–4 Dict. Archit. (Archit. Publ. Soc.) Heath-stone, a name given by builders to a description of sandstone that occurs in irregular masses in the Bagshot sands.
heath-tax n. a tax to defray the expenses of repairing the course at Newmarket.
ΚΠ
1856 in ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports (1886) 510 The payment of Heath Tax shall not be taken to confer on the person paying the same any legal rights which shall interfere..with the absolute control the Club now has over all persons using or going on to their grounds.
heath-throstle n. = heath-thrush n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Turdinae > [noun] > genus Turdus (thrush) > turdus torquatus (ring-ouzel)
ouzela1525
ring ouzel1673
heath-throstle1676
mountain ouzel1678
rock ouzel1678
amsela1705
tor ouzel1770
ring thrush1785
blackbird1802
Michaelmas blackbird1802
heath-thrush1804
ring blackbird1817
ringed thrush1817
moor blackbird1837
1676 M. Lister in J. Ray Corr. (1848) 125 Heath-throstle..the Ring-ouzle is so called with us in Craven.
heath-thrush n. the Ring Blackbird or Ring-ouzel, Turdus torquatus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Turdinae > [noun] > genus Turdus (thrush) > turdus torquatus (ring-ouzel)
ouzela1525
ring ouzel1673
heath-throstle1676
mountain ouzel1678
rock ouzel1678
amsela1705
tor ouzel1770
ring thrush1785
blackbird1802
Michaelmas blackbird1802
heath-thrush1804
ring blackbird1817
ringed thrush1817
moor blackbird1837
1804 C. Smith Conversat. II. 54 Bashful..The heath-thrush makes his domicile.
b. In names of trees and plants: applied to any species which grows on heaths.
(a)
heath bedstraw n.
heath hair-grass n.
heath mouse-ear n.
ΚΠ
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. lx. 87 The small [Pilosella]..may be called in English..Heath mouse-eare.
heath rush n.
(b) † heath-bramble n. Obsolete the Dewberry, Rubus cæsius. † heath-rose n. Obsolete the Rose of Jericho, Anastatica Hierochuntina.
ΚΠ
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball vi. iv. 661 The lesser berie is called..in Englishe, a heare Bremble, or heath Bramble..The fruite is called a Dewberie, or blackberie.
Categories »
heath-corn n. U.S. Buckwheat, Polygonum Fagopyrum.
heath-cup n. an erect herb, Artanema fimbriatum (N.O. Scrophulariaceæ), native of the East Indies and Australia, cultivated for its large blue flowers.
heath-cypress n. a Club-moss, Lycopodium alpinum.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > club-moss or moss-like ferns
dwarf cypress1548
heath-cypress1551
pine1551
wolf's-claw1578
club-moss1597
wolf-claw1597
wolf's-foot1597
tree-moss1611
Selagoa1627
cypress-moss1640
mountain moss1688
lycopodium1706
stag's horn (also staghorn) moss1741
walking fern1814
tod-tails1820
Robin Hood's hatband1828
resurrection plant1841
ground-pine1847
forks and knives1853
fir club-moss1855
lycopod1861
Selaginella1865
foxtail1866
stag-head or stag's head moss1869
fir-moss1879
hog-bed1900
1551 W. Turner New Herball sig. I iv Chamaecyparissus..may be called in English hethe cypres because it groweth amonge hethe, or dwarf cypres.
1777 S. Robson Brit. Flora 264 Lycopodium alpinum..Cypress Wolfsclaw, Heath Cypress.
heath-fern n. the Sweet Mountain Fern, Lastrea Oreopteris.
ΚΠ
1862 C. Kingsley Water-babies ii, in Macmillan's Mag. Sept. 354/2 Heaps of fallen limestone..with holes between them full of sweet heath-fern.
heath-grass n. Triodia decumbens.
Categories »
heath-honeysuckle n. Australian name for a flowering shrub, Banksia serrata.
heath-moss n. (see quot. 17531).
ΚΠ
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Heath-moss, Coralloides, in botany, the name of a genus of the mosses.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Heath-moss Of the Cup-mosses, with less perfect cups, the following are the known species: 1. The skewer Coralloides... It is commonly called horned Moss.
ΚΠ
1597 J. Gerard Herball iii. 1201 The Rose of Ierico..in English the Heath Rose.
c. In names of butterflies and moths: see quots. and cf. sense 3.
ΚΠ
1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 137 The Heath Rivulet (E[mmelesia] ericetata..) appears in June.
1871 E. Newman Brit. Butterflies (1874) 46 The Heath Fritillary..is fond of basking on thistles.
1883 Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 67 The Heath Moths, or Fidonidæ, fly by day.
Derivatives
heath v. (transitive) to cover with heath.
ΚΠ
1862 Macmillan's Mag. Sept. 426 How was it lichened and mossed, ferned and heathed..and brought to such a show of verdure and softness?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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