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hearth

(härth)

a. The floor of a fireplace, usually extending into a room and paved with brick, flagstone, or cement.

b. A fireplace: a blazing fire in the hearth.

2. Family life; the home.

3. Metallurgy

a. The lowest part of a blast furnace or cupola, from which the molten metal flows.

b. The bottom of a reverberatory furnace, where ore is exposed to the flame.

4. The fireplace or brazier of a blacksmith's forge.

[Middle English herth, from Old English heorth; see ker-³ in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

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hearth

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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