heath

heath · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kayt-“forest, wasteland, pasture”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*haiþī“heath, waste, untilled land”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*haiþi
4. Old English · inherited fromhǣþ“heath, untilled land, waste; heather”
5. Middle English · inherited fromheth
6. English todayheath

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”).

Heath · proper noun²

English surname, from the noun heath.

Words from the same roots