heather

The word “heather” means a low evergreen shrub with small purple, pink, or white flowers, common on moorland. In plain terms, the purple-flowered moorland shrub, or the soft mixed color/fabric named after it.

“Heather” is pronounced HEH-thuh (/ˈhɛðɚ/ in IPA).

Here is “heather” used in a sentence: “The hills were covered in purple heather.”

“Heather” is a noun.

The word “heather” comes from Old English. From Old English hǣþ (related to "heath"), the plant that grows wild on heathland.

“Heather” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Heather” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a low evergreen shrub with small purple, pink, or white flowers, common on moorland.

Heather is the low evergreen flowering shrub itself, while a heath is the open, uncultivated landscape, often moorland, where heather and similar plants grow. Confusingly, "heath" can also name certain related plants, but in everyday use heather is the plant and heath is the habitat.

Both are shrubs common on moorland, but heather has small purple, pink, or white flowers on low, wiry stems, whereas gorse is a spiny shrub with bright yellow flowers. They often grow in the same open landscapes but look quite different.

Heather is a muted, blended purple-pink shade rather than a pure purple or pink, named after the flowers of the heather plant. In textiles the term also describes fabric made from mixed-colored yarns, which gives a soft, flecked appearance.

Heather grey is a fabric made by blending different-colored fibers so the finished cloth looks flecked rather than a single flat tone. It takes its name from the way heather describes yarn or fabric woven from mixed-colored yarns.