different between heath vs heather

English

Etymology

From Middle English heeth, heth, hethe, from Old English h?þ (“heath, untilled land, waste; heather”), from Proto-Germanic *haiþ? (“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 b?c?tum (“pastureland”, literally “cow-pasture”) -cetum (“place of, grove of”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hi??/
• Rhymes: -i??

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 palearctic 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

• (shrub): heather

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• hathe

English

Alternative forms

• hadder (dialectal)
• hether, hather (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English hather, hathir, from Old English *h?ddre and h?þ (“heather”), cognate with Scots hedder, hadder, heddir (“heather”), Saterland Frisian Heede (“heather”), West Frisian heide (“heather”), Dutch heide (“heather”), German Low German Heide, Heid (“heather”), German Heide (“heather”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?h?ð?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?h?ð?/
• Rhymes: -?ð?(?)
• Hyphenation: heath?er

Noun

heather (countable and uncountable, plural heathers)

1. (botany) An evergreen plant, Calluna vulgaris, with spiky leaves and small purple, pink, or white flowers.
2. (botany) The Ericaceae family.
3. (botany) Various species of the genus Erica.
4. (botany) Various species of the genus Cassiope.
5. A purple colour with a tint of pink and blue.

6. (textiles) The use of interwoven yarns of mixed colours to produce flecks.

Synonyms

• (Calluna vulgaris): ling

Related terms

• heath

Derived terms

See also

• Appendix:Colors

Further reading

• heather on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Ericaceae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Ericaceae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Translations

Adjective

heather (not comparable)

1. Of a purple colour with a tint with pink and blue.

Anagrams

• heareth