eath

English

Alternative forms

• eith, eeth, aith (Scotland)

Etymology

From Middle English ethe (“not difficult, easy”), from Old English ēaþe, īeþe (“easy, smooth, not difficult”), from Proto-Germanic *auþijaz (“easy, pleasing”), from *auþiz (“deserted, empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *aut- (“empty, lonely”). Cognate with Scots eith (“easy”), Old Saxon ōþi (“deserted, empty”), Old High German ōdi (“empty, abandoned, easy, effortless”), Middle High German öde (German öde, “blank, vacant, easy”), Old Norse auðr (“deserted, empty”), Icelandic auð (“easy”), Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌸𐌴𐌹𐍃 (auþeis, “desolate, deserted”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian vetëm (“alone”) from vet (“his/her/their own, self”). More at easy.

Adjective

eath

1. (Now chiefly dialectal) Easy; not hard or difficult.
   • 1609, Heywood, Troia Britanica:

     At these advantages he knowes 'tis eath to cope with her quite severed from her maids.

   • 1847, H. Miller, First Impressions:

     There has been much written on the learning of Shakespeare but not much to the purpose: one of our old Scotch proverbs is worth all the dissertations on the subject I have yet seen. "God's bairns", it says, "are eath to lear", [...]

Antonyms

• uneath
• difficult

Derived terms

• eathly

Related terms

• eathful
• eath-kent
• eathlins
• eathy

Adverb

eath

1. (Now chiefly dialectal) Easily.
   • 1823, J. Kennedy, Poems:

     Their food and their raiment he eith can supply.

Anagrams

• haet, hate, heat, HEAT, heta, Thea