Link Centre Dictionary

hearth

UK/ˈhɑːθ/ US/ˈhɑːθ/ uncommon

noun

1.

an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire can be built

  • “the fireplace was so large you could walk inside it”
  • “he laid a fire in the hearth and lit it”
  • “the hearth was black with the charcoal of many fires”
Synonyms
2.

home symbolized as a part of the fireplace

  • “driven from hearth and home”
  • “fighting in defense of their firesides”
Synonyms
3.

an area near a fireplace (usually paved and extending out into a room)

  • “they sat on the hearth and warmed themselves before the fire”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English herth, herthe, from Old English heorþ, from Proto-West Germanic *herþ, from Proto-Germanic *herþaz, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃- (“heat; fire”). Cognate with West Frisian hurd, Dutch haard, German Herd, Swedish härd. The modern spelling is from an Middle English/Early Modern English /hɛːrθ/, from earlier /heːrθ/, levelled from inflected forms with /rð/ where the vowel would have been lengthened. The reflex of this pronunciation was preserved in obsolete dialectal /ˈhɜɹθ/.

Phrases

  • hearth and home
  • hearth board
  • hearth goddess
  • hearth tax
  • open hearth
  • ore hearth
  • rivet hearth
  • Scotch hearth

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.