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 money
     n : an annual contribution made by Roman Catholics to support
         the Papal see [syn: {Peter's pence}]