# hearth

> English word · Noun · IPA /hɑːθ/ · frequency rank #25,404

## Definitions
1. The place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos, fireplace, oven, smoke hood, or chimney.
2. A hearthstone, either as standalone or as the floor of an enclosed fireplace or oven.
3. A fireplace: an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire may be built.
4. The lowest part of a metallurgical furnace.
5. A brazier, chafing dish, or firebox.
6. Home or family life.
7. A household or group in some forms of the modern pagan faith Heathenry.

## Etymology
From Middle English herth, herthe, from Old English heorþ, from Proto-West Germanic *herþ, from Proto-Germanic *herþaz, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃- (“heat; fire”). Cognate with West Frisian hurd, Dutch haard, German Herd, Swedish härd.

## Easily confused with
- **heat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hearth-vs-heat)
- **heath** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hearth-vs-heath)
- **heats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hearth-vs-heats)
- **hertz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hearth-vs-hertz)
- **hearts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hearth-vs-hearts)
- **hearty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hearth-vs-hearty)
- **Hogarth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hearth-vs-hogarth)
- **hear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hear-vs-hearth)
- **hart** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hart-vs-hearth)
- **hath** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hath-vs-hearth)
- **heart** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-hearth)
- **heard** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heard-vs-hearth)
- **harsh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/harsh-vs-hearth)
- **hears** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hears-vs-hearth)
- **hearn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hearn-vs-hearth)
- **health** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/health-vs-hearth)
- **Hearst** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hearst-vs-hearth)
- **hearse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hearse-vs-hearth)
- **healthy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/healthy-vs-hearth)
- **hearted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hearted-vs-hearth)

## Common misspellings (9)
`eharth`, `haerth`, `hearht`, `hearrth`, `hearthh`, `heartth`, `heatrh`, `herath`, `hhearth`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hearth