height

Sometimes hight
Nonstandard, heighth

[hahyt]

noun

1. extent or distance upward.

   The balloon stopped rising at a height of 500 feet.

   Antonyms: depth

2. distance upward from a given level to a fixed point.

   the height from the ground to the first floor; the height of an animal at the shoulder.

   Antonyms: depth

3. the distance between the lowest and highest points of a person standing upright; stature.

   She is five feet in height.

   Synonyms: tallness

4. considerable or great altitude or elevation.

   the height of the mountains.

5. Often heights

   1. a high place above a level; a hill or mountain.

      They stood on the heights overlooking the valley.

   2. the highest part; top; apex; summit.

      In his dreams he reached the heights.

   Synonyms: prominence

6. the highest point; utmost degree.

   the height of power; the height of pleasure.

   Synonyms: culmination, zenith, acme, pinnacle, peak

7. Archaic.,  high rank in social status.

height

/ haɪt /

noun

1. the vertical distance from the bottom or lowest part of something to the top or apex

2. the vertical distance of an object or place above the ground or above sea level; altitude

3. relatively great altitude or distance from the bottom to the top

4. the topmost point; summit

5. astronomy the angular distance of a celestial body above the horizon

6. the period of greatest activity or intensity

   the height of the battle

7. an extreme example of its kind

   the height of rudeness

8. (often plural) an area of high ground

9. (often plural) the state of being far above the ground

   I don't like heights

10. (often plural) a position of influence, fame, or power

    the giddy heights they occupied in the 1980s

Spelling Note

Height, and not heighth, is considered the standard English form for this word.

Word History and Origins

Origin of height¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hīehtho. See high, -th ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of height¹

Old English hīehthu; related to Old Norse hǣthe, Gothic hauhitha, Old High German hōhida; see _high

Synonym Study

Height, altitude, elevation refer to distance above a level. Height denotes extent upward (as from foot to head) as well as any measurable distance above a given level: The tree grew to a height of ten feet. They looked down from a great height. Altitude usually refers to the distance, determined by instruments, above a given level, commonly mean sea level: altitude of an airplane. Elevation implies a distance to which something has been raised or uplifted above a level: a hill's elevation above the surrounding country, above sea level.

Example Sentences

Even now, at the age of 53, he has hulking shoulders, but a height of 5ft 8in is not ideal for a fast bowler.

Read more on BBC

At its 1886 height, the Knights claimed nearly one million members, seeking a cooperative commonwealth transcending the wage system.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He told AFP earlier this year the picture was "a masterpiece" which was painted by Rubens when he was "at the height of his talent".

Read more on Barron's

It's a Sin told the story of a young group of friends in London at the height of the Aids epidemic.

Read more on BBC

Beginning during World War I and reaching never before seen just-below-the-knee heights in the middle of the 1920s, women’s hemlines rose from the ground and haven’t dropped that low again since.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• ceiling 
• crest 
• elevation 
• extent 
• peak 
• pinnacle 
• prominence 
• stature