Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Hearth?

\Hearth\, n. [OE. harthe, herth, herthe, AS. heor?; akin to D. haard, heerd, Sw. h["a]rd, G. herd; cf. Goth. ha['u]ri a coal, Icel. hyrr embers, and L. cremare to burn.] 1. The pavement or floor of brick, stone, or metal in a chimney, on which a fire is made; the floor of a fireplace; also, a corresponding part of a stove. There was a fire on the hearth burning before him. --Jer. xxxvi. 22. Where fires thou find'st unraked and hearths unswept. There pinch the maids as blue as bilberry. --Shak. 2. The house itself, as the abode of comfort to its inmates and of hospitality to strangers; fireside. 3. (Metal. & Manuf.) The floor of a furnace, on which the material to be heated lies, or the lowest part of a melting furnace, into which the melted material settles. {Hearth ends} (Metal.), fragments of lead ore ejected from the furnace by the blast. {Hearth money}, {Hearth penny} [AS. heor[eth]pening], a tax formerly laid in England on hearths, each hearth (in all houses paying the church and poor rates) being taxed at two shillings; -- called also {chimney money}, etc. He had been importuned by the common people to relieve them from the . . . burden of the hearth money. --Macaulay.