Covered with heather; resembling or characteristic of heathland; having the appearance or qualities of heath plants.
From 'heath' + '-ery' suffix, which creates adjectives meaning 'abounding in' or 'resembling.' This combines Old English 'hæth' with a suffix found in words like 'flowery' and 'shrubbery.'
The '-ery' suffix in adjectives is much less common than '-y' (we say 'flowery' rather than 'flowery'), which shows how suffixes can compete for the same job—and sometimes one winner eliminates the others! Yet 'heathery' stuck around anyway.
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