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Webster 1913 Edition

Hearth

Hearth

(härth)
,
Noun.
[OE.
harthe
,
herth
,
herthe
, AS.
heorð
; akin to D.
haard
,
heerd
, Sw.
härd
, G.
herd
; cf. Goth.
haúri
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.
Shakespeare
2.
The house itself, as the abode of comfort to its inmates and of hospitality to strangers; fireside.
Hearth ends
(Metal.)
,
fragments of lead ore ejected from the furnace by the blast.
–
Hearth money
,
Hearth penny
[AS.
heorðpening
]
, 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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Hearth

HE`ARTH

,
Noun.
harth. A pavement or floor of brick or stone in a chimney, on which a fire is made to warm a room, and from which there is a passage for the smoke to ascend.

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