hearth

n. [ OE. harthe, herth, herthe, AS. heorð; akin to D. haard, heerd, Sw. härd, G. herd; cf. Goth. haúri a coal, Icel. hyrr embers, and L. cremare to burn. ] 1. The pavement or floor of brick, stone, or metal in a chimney, on which a fire is made; the floor of a fireplace; also, a corresponding part of a stove. [ 1913 Webster ]

There was a fire on the hearth burning before him. Jer. xxxvi. 22. [ 1913 Webster ]

Where fires thou find'st unraked and hearths unswept.
There pinch the maids as blue as bilberry. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The house itself, as the abode of comfort to its inmates and of hospitality to strangers; fireside. [ 1913 Webster ]

Household talk and phrases of the hearth. Tennyson.

3. (Metal. & Manuf.) The floor of a furnace, on which the material to be heated lies, or the lowest part of a melting furnace, into which the melted material settles; as, an open-hearth smelting furnace. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Hearth ends (Metal.), fragments of lead ore ejected from the furnace by the blast. --
Hearth money,
Hearth penny [ AS. heorðpening ], a tax formerly laid in England on hearths, each hearth (in all houses paying the church and poor rates) being taxed at two shillings; -- called also chimney money, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

He had been importuned by the common people to relieve them from the . . . burden of the hearth money. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]