Beath

/biːθ/ noun

Definition

A Scottish or Northern English dialectal word for a bath or bathing place; a warm stream or healing spring.

Etymology

From Old English 'bæð' (bath) or Old Norse 'bað,' preserved in Scottish and Northern English dialects while standard English evolved the word to 'bath'.

Kelly Says

English dialects preserve 'fossils' of older pronunciations—'beath' shows the original Old English vowel sound that changed in standard English, like how 'eath' (easy) survives in some dialects while becoming 'ease' in formal speech.

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