Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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.
Source : WordNet®
hearth
n 1: an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a
fire can be built; "the fireplace was so large you could
walk inside it"; "he laid a fire in the hearth and lit
it"; "the hearth was black with the charcoal of many
fires" [syn: {fireplace}, {open fireplace}]
2: home symbolized as a part of the fireplace; "driven from
hearth and home"; "fighting in defense of their firesides"
[syn: {fireside}]
3: an area near a fireplace (usually paved and extending out
into a room); "they sat on the hearth and warmed
themselves before the fire" [syn: {fireside}]