Hearth (härth), n. [OE.
harthe, herth, herthe, AS. heorð;
akin to D. haard, heerd, Sw. härd, G.
herd; cf. Goth. haúri 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.
Household talk and phrases of the
hearth.
Tennyson.
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.
heorðpening], 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.