Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- the floor of a fireplace, usually of stone, brick, etc., often extending a short distance into a room.
- home; fireside: the joys of family and hearth.
- Metallurgy.
- the lower part of a blast furnace, cupola, etc., in which the molten metal collects and from which it is tapped out.
- the part of an open hearth, reverberatory furnace, etc., upon which the charge is placed and melted down or refined.
- a brazier or chafing dish for burning charcoal.
noun
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- the floor of a fireplace, esp one that extends outwards into the room
- (as modifier)hearth rug
- this part of a fireplace as a symbol of the home, etc
- the bottom part of a metallurgical furnace in which the molten metal is produced or contained
Old English heorð “hearth, fire,” in transferred use “house, home,” from West Germanic *hertho “burning place” (cf. Old Saxon and Old Frisian herth, Middle Dutch hert, Dutch haard, German Herd “floor, ground, fireplace”), from PIE *kerta-, from root *ker- “heat, fire” (see carbon).