heath
noun
a tract of open and uncultivated land; wasteland overgrown with shrubs.
heath
1 American
[heeth]
/ hiθ /
noun
-
heaths
plural
-
a tract of open and uncultivated land; wasteland overgrown with shrubs.
-
any of various low-growing evergreen shrubs common on such land, as the common heather, Calluna vulgaris.
-
any plant of the genus Erica, or of the family Ericaceae.
Heath
2
American
[heeth]
/ hiθ /
noun
heath
1
British
/ hiːθ /
noun
-
a large open area, usually with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation, esp heather
-
Also called: heather. any low-growing evergreen ericaceous shrub of the Old World genus Erica and related genera, having small bell-shaped typically pink or purple flowers
-
any of several nonericaceous heathlike plants, such as sea heath
-
any of various heathlike plants of the genus Epacris : family Epacridaceae
-
any of various small brown satyrid butterflies of the genus Coenonympha, with coppery-brown wings, esp the large heath ( C. tullia )
Heath
2
British
/ hiːθ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of heath
before 900; Middle English; Old English hǣth; cognate with German Heide, Old Norse heithr, Gothic haithi; akin to Welsh coed trees, wood
Explanation
Heath is open land with low growing grasses and plants. If you travel to England, you can drive out in the countryside to see the heath that you've read about in novels. An open, sandy field of low shrubs and scrubby plants like gorse and heather is called a heath. Another word for this kind of uncultivated countryside is moor. A particular evergreen shrub is also called a heath; it's a low-growing plant with purplish flowers that commonly grows on, you guessed it, a heath. The Old English root of heath is the word hǣth, which means "wasteland."
Vocabulary lists containing heath
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Diary of Anne Frank
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Beowulf
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Should I just leave now?” she asks herself after spotting a heath fritillary in Vendsyssel in northern Denmark.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
On Monday, USA Basketball announced that Wilson and Kelsey Plum, who had previously been announced as members of the team, will miss the World Cup for heath reasons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
On-site operations have been complicated by the fens' terrain -- a patchwork of heath, peat bogs and raised wooden boardwalks.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
From Wednesday, British pet owners are no longer able travel with their animals using the EU pet passport scheme and instead have to acquire a new animal heath certificate each time they go abroad.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
But sometimes he still feels so unbearably lonely, he wishes he had stayed on the heath.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
Alexander Grant, 51, said: "My main worry is the situation with the Heath hospital with regards to the staff and the patients."
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Jeelani’s company Onto Heath raised $20 million from investors earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Heath Ledger’s Joker is an enemy who doesn’t play by the rules, attacking the city with no clear political goal beyond creating panic and chaos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
The only English population of the narrow-headed ant lives in the trust's Chudleigh Knighton Heath nature reserve and the nationally scarce erratic ant was recently discovered at the charity's Bovey Heathfield nature reserve.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
“Don’t focus on the treasure. Not yet. First we have to stop Heath Huxley from tearing down our school.”
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
Management of moors and heaths to "reduce the fuel loads" could help, he said, as well as grazing, but: "The public can do so much because they're all started by people basically."
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
In other words, they created the varied landscapes of meadows, heaths and grasslands that characterized our cultural landscapes before the advent of modern agriculture.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 14, 2023
People wander in empty stone corridors or across blasted heaths, surveyed at crooked angles or from above to emphasize their alienation from one another.
From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2021
Over the last 70 years, 98% of wildflower meadows in England and Wales have been destroyed; three-quarters of ponds and heaths have vanished; half the remaining fragments of ancient woods have been obliterated.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 13, 2020
During the entire walk, across the heaths and fens near Cambridge, Lessing did all the talking; Watson said not one word.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
