hearth

== English == === Etymology === 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/. === Pronunciation === (non-rhotic) (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhɑːθ/, [ˈhɑːθ] (rhotic) (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhɑɹθ/, [ˈhɑɹθ] (obsolete, dialectal) IPA(key): /ˈhɜɹθ/, /ˈhæθ/ Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)θ Hyphenation: hearth Homophone: heart (th-stopping) === Noun === hearth (plural hearths) The place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos, fireplace, oven, smoke hood, or chimney. A hearthstone, either as standalone or as the floor of an enclosed fireplace or oven. A fireplace: an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire may be built. The lowest part of a metallurgical furnace. A brazier, chafing dish, or firebox. (figurative) Home or family life. (Germanic paganism) A household or group in some forms of the modern pagan faith Heathenry. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === === Anagrams === Hertha == Yola == === Alternative forms === hart === Etymology === From Middle English herte, harte, from Old English heorte, from Proto-West Germanic *hertā. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /hɛrt̪/, /hart/ === Noun === hearth heart Synonym: core ==== Derived terms ==== hearthilee sweethearth === References === Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 45