height

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See also: Height

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English heighte, heiȝþe, from Old English hēahþu, hēhþo, hīehþo (“height”), from Proto-Germanic *hauhiþō (compare *hauhaz), cognate with Saterland Frisian Höchte, Hööchte (“height”), West Frisian hichte (“height”), Dutch hoogte (“height”), Middle High German hœhede, hœhte (“height”), Old Norse and Old Norse hæð (“height”) (compare Swedish höjd, Norwegian høyde), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌹𐌸𐌰 (hauhiþa, “height”). Corresponds to high +‎ -th.

Pronunciation

Noun

height (countable and uncountable, plural heights)

  1. The distance from the base of something to the top.
    • 1942, Robert Frost, “Happiness Makes Up in Height for What It Lacks in Length”, in A Witness Tree, New York: Henry Hold and Company, published 1943, page 15:
      Happiness Makes Up in Height for What It Lacks in Length [title of poem]
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.
  2. The vertical distance from the ground to the highest part of a standing person or animal (withers in the case of a horse).
  3. The highest point or maximum degree.
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
      […] They clip vs drunkards, and with Swiniſh phraſe / Soyle our addition, and indeede it takes / From our atchieuements, though perform’d at height / The pith and marrow of our attribute […]
    • 2004, Peter Bondanella, Hollywood Italians: Dagos, Palookas, Romeos, Wise Guys, and Sopranos, chapter 4, 173–174:
      During the height of Italian immigration in the United States and in New York City, gangs flourished not only because of poverty but also because of political and social corruption. Policemen and politicians were often as crooked as the gang leaders themselves.
    • 2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport‎[1]:
      If City never quite reached the heights of their 6-1 demolition of United, then Roberto Mancini's side should still have had this game safe long before Johnson restored their two-goal advantage.
    She's at the height of her career.
  4. A high point.
    1. A mountain, especially a very high one.
  5. (Sussex) An area of land at the top of a cliff.

Synonyms

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Further reading

Anagrams

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