heath Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a low evergreen shrub of the family Ericaceae; has small bell-shaped pink or purple flowers
  2. noun a tract of level wasteland; uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation
    heathland.

WordNet

Heath noun
Etymology
OE. heth waste land, the plant heath, AS. h; akin to D. & G. heide, Icel. heir waste land, Dan. hede, Sw. hed, Goth. haipi field, L. bucetum a cow pasture; cf. W. coed a wood, Skr. kshtra field.
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) (a) A low shrub (Erica, ∨ Calluna, vulgaris), with minute evergreen leaves, and handsome clusters of pink flowers. It is used in Great Britain for brooms, thatch, beds for the poor, and for heating ovens. It is also called heather, and ling. (b) Also, any species of the genus Erica, of which several are European, and many more are South African, some of great beauty. See Illust. of Heather.
  2. A place overgrown with heath; any cheerless tract of country overgrown with shrubs or coarse herbage.
    Their stately growth, though bare, Stands on the blasted heath. Milton

Webster 1913