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Webster 1913 Edition


Heath

Heath

(hēth)
,
Noun.
[OE.
heth
waste land, the plant heath, AS.
hǣð
; akin to D. & G.
heide
, Icel.
heiðr
waste land, Dan.
hede
, Sw.
hed
, Goth.
haiþi
field, L.
bucetum
a cow pasture; cf. W.
coed
a wood, Skr.
kshētra
field. √20.]
1.
(Bot.)
(a)
A low shrub (
Erica vulgaris
or
Calluna vulgaris
), with minute evergreen leaves, and handsome clusters of pink flowers. It is used in Great Britain for brooms, thatch, beds for the poor, and for heating ovens. It is also called
heather
, and
ling
.
(b)
Also, any species of the genus
Erica
, of which several are European, and many more are South African, some of great beauty. See Illust. of
Heather
.
2.
A place overgrown with heath; any cheerless tract of country overgrown with shrubs or coarse herbage.
Their stately growth, though bare,
Stands on the blasted
heath
.
Milton
Heath cock
(Zool.)
,
the blackcock. See
Heath grouse
(below).
Heath grass
(Bot.)
,
a kind of perennial grass, of the genus
Triodia
(
Triodia decumbens
), growing on dry heaths.
Heath grouse
, or
Heath game
(Zool.)
,
a European grouse (
Tetrao tetrix
), which inhabits heaths; – called also
black game
,
black grouse
,
heath poult
,
heath fowl
,
moor fowl
. The male is called
heath cock
, and
blackcock
; the female,
heath hen
, and
gray hen
.
Heath hen
.
(Zool.)
See
Heath grouse
(above).
Heath pea
(Bot.)
,
a species of bitter vetch (
Lathyrus macrorhizus
), the tubers of which are eaten, and in Scotland are used to flavor whisky.
Heath throstle
(Zool.)
,
a European thrush which frequents heaths; the ring ouzel.

Webster 1828 Edition


Heath

HEATH

, n.
1.
A plant of the genus Erica, of many species. It is a shrub which is used in Great Britain for brooms, thatch, beds for the poor, and for heating ovens. Its leaves are small and continue green all the year. It is called also ling.
2.
A place overgrown with heath.
3.
A place overgrown with shrubs of any kind.

Definition 2024


Heath

Heath

See also: heath

English

Proper noun

Heath

  1. A surname.
  2. A male given name

heath

heath

See also: Heath

English

Noun

heath (countable and uncountable, plural heaths)

  1. A tract of level uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation; heathland.
    • ~1602, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, 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 2007, p. 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. Many of the species in the genus Erica
    2. Many of the species in the genus Cassiope
    3. Both species in the genus Daboecia
    4. Any of the species in the genus Epacris, Australian heath
    5. Any of the species in the genus Leucopogon, beard heath
    6. Any of the species in the genus Phyllodoce, mountain heath
  3. (countable) Certain butterflies and moths
    1. The palaearctic species of Coenonympha, a genus of brush-footed butterfly
      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, the heath fritillary
    3. Semiothisa clathrata, a moth known as the latticed heath

Usage notes

  • The word heaths may describe multiple disconnected heathlands.

Synonyms

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