Heath
/hiːθ/noun
An area of open uncultivated land with poor soil and low shrubs, especially in Britain.
Did you know?Heath is not the same root as 'heather'; the word goes back to Old English hǣth, a native term for barren upland, and it has long carried the feeling of a place outside cultivation and control.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kaito-
“A rough, open, uncultivated place”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*haithaz
“Heath, uncultivated upland”
Old English
English
hǣth
“A heath, moor, or waste land”
Middle English
English
hethe
“Open uncultivated land; a heath”
Modern English
English
heath
“Open uncultivated land with poor soil and low-growing vegetation”