English
heather
Heather comes from Middle English hather.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hather
- Englishearliest quotation 1947heather
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hather
- Englishearliest quotation 1947heather
Earliest quotation: 1947, and February, "The Aberdonian" in Wartime: “The cutting sides were gay with heather in bloom,…”
A compound of *hǣddre + hǣþ ‘heather’
Proto-Indo-European *kay-t-os ‘forest, wasteland, pasture’
Proto-Germanic *haiþī ‘heath, wasteland’
Proto-West Germanic *haiþi ‘uncultivated land, wasteland, moor’
Old English hǣþ ‘heather’
Every English word from Middle English hather
Today it means
noun An evergreen plant, Calluna vulgaris, with spiky leaves and small purple, pink, or white flowers.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English hather / heather