height

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The distance from the base to the top of something.

   Happiness Makes Up in Height for What It Lacks in Length [title of poem]

2. 2
   noun

   The distance of something above the ground or some other chosen level.

   We flew at a height of 15 000 meters.

3. 3
   noun

   A high point.

   At length they arrived at the open road, skirted by a wide heath, bounded by the rising heights of the undulating country.

4. 4
   noun

   (of a standing person) the distance from head to foot

5. 5
   noun

   elevation especially above sea level or above the earth's surface

6. 6
   noun

   the vertical dimension of extension

7. 7
   noun

   the highest level or degree attainable

8. 8
   noun

   A quality of vowels, indicating the vertical position of the tongue relative to the roof of the mouth; in practice, the first formant, associated with the height of the tongue.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kewk- Proto-Indo-European *kówk-o-s Proto-Germanic *hauhaz Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂der. Proto-Germanic *-iþō Proto-Germanic *hauhiþō Proto-West Germanic *hauhiþu Old English hīehþu Middle English heighte English height From Middle English heighte, heiȝþe, from Old English hēahþu, hēhþo, hīehþu (“height”), Proto-West Germanic *hauhiþu, from Proto-Germanic *hauhiþō (compare *hauhaz). Equivalent to high + -t (abstract nominal suffix). The regular pronunciation is now obsolete /heɪt/ (as with other words in -eight); the modern form developed early on, at first…