English Online Dictionary. What means health? What does health mean?
English
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle English helthe, from Old English hǣlþ, from Proto-West Germanic *hailiþu, from Proto-Germanic *hailiþō, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole, hale”). Cognate with Old High German heilida. Analyzable as whole + -th, hale + -th, or heal + -th. More at heal. Doublet of wholth.
Alternative forms
- helth, helthe, healthe (obsolete)
Pronunciation
- enPR: hĕlth, IPA(key): /hɛlθ/, [hɛl̪θ]
- Rhymes: -ɛlθ
Noun
health (usually uncountable, plural healths)
- The state of being free from physical or psychological disease, illness, or malfunction; wellness. [from 11th c.]
- A state of well-being or balance, often physical but sometimes also mental and social; the overall level of function of an organism from the cellular (micro) level to the social (macro) level.
- Physical condition.
- (obsolete) Cure, remedy. [16th c. (Middle English: 11th–15th c.)]
- (countable) A toast to prosperity. [from 17th c.]
- (video games) The amount of damage an in-game object can withstand before it is destroyed.
Derived terms
Related terms
- heal
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English heleð (“man, hero, fighter”), from Old English hæleþ (“man, hero, fighter”), from Proto-West Germanic *haliþ, from Proto-Germanic *haliþaz (“man, hero”). Cognate with West Frisian held (“hero”), Dutch held (“hero”), German Held (“hero”), Norwegian Nynorsk hauld (“freeman”).
Alternative forms
- heleth
Noun
health (plural healths)
- (obsolete) A warrior; hero; man.
References
- “health”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “health”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.