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Webster 1913 Edition

Health

Health

(hĕlth)
,
Noun.
[OE.
helthe
, AS.
hǣlþ
, fr.
hāl
hale, sound, whole. See
Whole
.]
1.
The state of being hale, sound, or whole, in body, mind, or soul; especially, the state of being free from physical disease or pain.
There is no
health
in us.
Book of Common Prayer.
Though
health
may be enjoyed without gratitude, it can not be sported with without loss, or regained by courage.
Buckminster.
2.
A wish of health and happiness, as in pledging a person in a toast.
“Come, love and health to all.”
Shak.
Bill of health
.
See under
Bill
.
–
Health lift
,
a machine for exercise, so arranged that a person lifts an increasing weight, or moves a spring of increasing tension, in such a manner that most of the muscles of the body are brought into gradual action; – also called
lifting machine
.
–
Health officer
,
one charged with the enforcement of the sanitary laws of a port or other place.
–
To drink a health
.
See under
Drink
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Health

HEALTH

,
Noun.
helth. [from heal.] That state of an animal or living body, in which the parts are sound, well organized and disposed, and in which they all perform freely their natural functions. In this state the animal feels no pain. This word is applied also to plants.
1.
Sound state of the mind; natural vigor of faculties.
2.
Sound state of the mind, in a moral sense; purity; goodness.
There is no health in us.
3.
Salvation or divine favor, or grace which cheers God's people. Ps.43,
4.
Wish of health and happiness; used in drinking. Come, love and health to all; an elliptical phrase, for, I wish health to you.

Definition 2024

health

health

English

Alternative forms

Noun

health ‎(plural healths)

  1. (obsolete) A warrior; hero; man.
    • Drayton (1612)
      They, under false pretence of amity and cheer, the British peers invite, the German healths to view.

Etymology 2

From Middle English helthe, from Old English hǣlþ, ultimately from West Proto-Germanic *hailiþō, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz ‎(“whole, hale”). Cognate with Old High German heilida.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • enPR: hĕlth, IPA(key): /hɛlθ/
  • Rhymes: -ɛlθ

Noun

health ‎(usually uncountable, plural healths)

  1. The state of being free from physical or psychological disease, illness, or malfunction; wellness. [from 11th c.]
    I think she suffers from autism, ADHD or some other mental health problem.‎
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.
  2. A state of well-being or balance, often physical but sometimes also mental and social; the overall level of function of an organism from the cellular (micro) level to the social (macro) level.
  3. Physical condition.
  4. (obsolete) Cure, remedy. [11th-16th c.]
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, Bk.XVII, Ch.XI:
      And she myght have a dysshfulle of bloode of a maydyn and a clene virgyne in wylle and in worke, and a kynges doughter, that bloode sholde be her helth, for to anoynte her withall.
  5. (countable) A toast to prosperity. [from 17th c.]
    • 2002, Joshua Scodel, Excess and the Mean in Early Modern English Literature‎, page 213:
      Strikingly, however, Waller does not deny but rather revels in the claim that healths lead to excessive drinking
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

References

  • health in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • health in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Etymology

From Middle English haleth ‎(“man, hero, fighter”), Old English hæleþ ‎(“man, hero, fighter”), from Proto-Germanic *haliþaz ‎(“man, hero”). Cognate with West Frisian held ‎(“hero”), Dutch held ‎(“hero”), German Held ‎(“hero”), Danish helt ‎(“hero”), Swedish hjälte ‎(“hero”), Norwegian hold ‎(“hero”).

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