Heathery
/ˈhiːð.ə.ri/noun
Covered with or resembling heather; also used to describe a soft purple-gray color.
Did you know?Heathery is built from heather, a word tied to open, uncultivated land, so the adjective originally evokes a place that was literally rough, wild, and untamed.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*haithaz
“heath, uncultivated land”
Old English
OE
hǣð
“heath, open uncultivated land”
Old English
OE
hǣðer
“heather, the plant of the heath”
Middle English
ME
hethere / hethere-y
“of or like heather”
Modern English
English
heathery
“resembling heather; covered with heather or heather-colored”
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