hearth

[hahrth]

noun

1. the floor of a fireplace, usually of stone, brick, etc., often extending a short distance into a room.

2. home; fireside.

   the joys of family and hearth.

   Synonyms: house, abode, household

3. Metallurgy.

   1. the lower part of a blast furnace, cupola, etc., in which the molten metal collects and from which it is tapped out.

   2. the part of an open hearth, reverberatory furnace, etc., upon which the charge is placed and melted down or refined.

4. a brazier or chafing dish for burning charcoal.

hearth

/ hɑːθ /

noun

1. 1. the floor of a fireplace, esp one that extends outwards into the room

   2. ( as modifier )

      hearth rug

2. this part of a fireplace as a symbol of the home, etc

3. the bottom part of a metallurgical furnace in which the molten metal is produced or contained

Other Word Forms

• hearthless adjective
• multihearth noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hearth¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English herth(e), Old English he(o)rth; cognate with German Herd, Dutch haard

Word History and Origins

Origin of hearth¹

Old English heorth; related to Old High German herd hearth, Latin carbō charcoal

Example Sentences

The sunny apartment was now cozily dark and lit by the hearth fire Pater Lumley carefully built and tended.

Read more on Literature

Penelope scooped them up and retired to her comfortable chair near the hearth.

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Although the cook was nowhere in sight, she discovered a big pot of porridge keeping warm on the kitchen hearth.

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In an age when every middle-class household could afford a few hearth gods, the superior collector consummated his passion for beauty against the “prevailing winds of progress, fashion, democracy, money, and modernity.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It was also the sound of the latest attempt to revive the smoldering embers of the electronic hearth and save linear television.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fireplace