heather English · revision 15281

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1335}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈhiːðəɹ/; /ˈhɛðə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈhɛðɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an alteration of earlier hathir (northern dialect),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps from an unrecorded [[ang|*hæddre]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the New Oxford cites Old English [[m|ang|hadre]] and [[m|ang|hedre]] in place names.^(NODE 1998) Its origin is unknown.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) It was probably altered under the influence of [[heath]], but a real connection with that word is unlikely, according to Liberman and the OED.^(Etymonline)^(Liberman 2008) Etymonline suggests it may be originally Celtic.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The native species of ''Calluna'' and ''Erica'', first a Scots name: 1335 (hathir) in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was chiefly Scots until the 16th century;^(NODE 1998) the form hadder or hather prevailed in English from the 16th to the 18th century,^(Hoad 1986) and heather is first recorded in 1725, in heather-bell.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) ''To set the heather on fire'', to make a disturbance, is from 1818.^(OED 1989) As a girl's name Heather was little used in the United States before 1935.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1335 – hathir.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 16th century – hadder, hather in English.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1725 – heather-bell.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1818 – set the heather on fire.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A low-growing evergreen shrub, ''Calluna vulgaris'', with small bell-shaped pinkish-purple flowers, growing on open moorland; [[ling]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any of various similar plants; [[heath]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A purplish-red colour.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[heathered]]

+ * [[heathery]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[heath]]

+ * [[ling]]

+ * [[erica]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}