ENGLISH
REFERENCE

eth

n. countable
C2 Proficiency eth

n. the name for an old letter in English that looks like a 'd' with a line through it. It represents the 'th' sound in words like 'this' or 'that'.

n. a character used in Old English and modern Icelandic to represent the voiced dental fricative. It is typically written as 'ð' in lowercase and 'Ð' in uppercase.


SIMPLE

The word 'then' would have used an eth in Old English.

CONTEXTUAL

Students of medieval literature must learn to distinguish between the letters eth and thorn when reading original manuscripts.

COMPLEX

While the letter eth eventually disappeared from the English alphabet in favor of the 'th' digraph, it remains a functional part of the Icelandic orthographic system today.

Origin

The sound /ɛ/ followed by the sound of the letter, by analogy with other letter names, such as those of f, l, and m.

Usage

Refers to the grapheme itself; often paired with 'thorn' when discussing historical linguistics.

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