height English · revision 4746

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=a. 900|origins=gem-pro *hauhiþō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /haɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|heighthe]], [[inh|ang|hīehþu]], Anglian hēhþu “highest part, summit; heaven”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*hauhiþō]],^(Hoad 1986) formed from the root of hēah “high” and the abstract suffix -þu, as in width and depth.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is cognate with Dutch hoogte, Old High German hōhida, Old Norse hæð and Gothic hauhiþa.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is related to [[high]].^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The highest part or point, a summit: before 900 in Barnhart, in Cynewulf's Elene.^(Barnhart 1988) The quality of being high is about 1230, in the Ancrene Riwle.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The distance from bottom to top is from the late 13th century (about 1290 in the OED),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a high degree or the highest point of a quality, as in ''the height of fashion'', by the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) The ending varied between -th and -t from the 13th century,^(Barnhart 1988) the change of -hþ to -ht being originally northern;^(Hoad 1986) by analogy with words like drought the -t form became standard by the late 1800s,^(Barnhart 1988) though Milton wrote highth and heighth is still heard colloquially.^(Etymonline) The vowel goes back to the Anglian form.^(Barnhart 1988) The plural ''heights'', high ground, is used in place names.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) ''Heighten'' is from about 1450.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 900 – the highest point, summit.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1230 – the quality of being high.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1290 – distance from base to top.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – the highest degree.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1450 – ''heighten''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1551 – the elevation of a star above the horizon.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The measurement from the bottom to the top of something, or how [[tall]] a person is.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Distance above a level such as the ground or the sea; [[altitude]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The quality of being high or tall.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(often heights)'' A high place: ''a fear of heights''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The most intense or extreme point: ''the height of summer''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[heighten]]

+ * [[heightism]]

+ * [[x-height]]

+ * [[height to paper]]

+ * [[metacentric height]]

+ * [[slant height]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[high]]

+ * [[heights]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}