heather

¹ American  

[heth-er] / ˈhɛð ər /

noun

1. any of various heaths, especially Calluna vulgaris, of England and Scotland, having small, pinkish-purple flowers.

---

adjective

1. (of a yarn or fabric color) subtly flecked or mottled.

   all-cotton turtlenecks in your choice of five solid colors plus heather gray and heather green.

Heather ² American  

[heth-er] / ˈhɛð ər /

noun

1. a female given name.

---

heather British  

/ ˈhɛðə /

noun

1. Also called: ling.   heath.  a low-growing evergreen Eurasian ericaceous shrub, Calluna vulgaris, that grows in dense masses on open ground and has clusters of small bell-shaped typically pinkish-purple flowers

2. any of certain similar plants

3. a purplish-red to pinkish-purple colour

---

adjective

1. of a heather colour

2. of or relating to interwoven yarns of mixed colours

   heather mixture

Other Word Forms

• heathered adjective
• heathery adjective

Etymology

Origin of heather

1300–50; spelling variant of hether, earlier hedder, hadder, hather, Middle English hathir; akin to heath

Example Sentences

Only decades ago many of the cottages in Scotland’s Highlands were roofed in heather, bracken and marram grass.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

Muirburns are controlled fires set burn off old heather and other vegetation on grouse shooting estates.

From BBC • Jul. 17, 2025

But with the fires destroying much of the vegetation in the area, Mr Fisher fears the red grouse will move out of the area, if the heather does not return.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2025

The April 2021 wildfires caused purple moor grass "to really take off" and prevented other plants, like heather, growing back.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2025

He had spent three days sitting inside the bole of an artificial oak tree, three nights crawling on his belly through the heather, hiding microphones in gorse bushes, burying wires in the soft grey sand.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

Related Words

• drab
• dusty
• silvery