# health

Pronunciation: say "HELTH" /hɛlθ/

## Noun

1. The state of being well in body and mind, free from illness, injury, or other disorder.
   - Simple: Being well in your body and mind, with no illness.
   - _Regular exercise plays a major role in maintaining good health._
   - _Smoking damaged his health long before the doctors found the tumor._
2. The provision of medical care and the protection of people's well-being, regarded as an occupation, a public service or a responsibility of government.
   - Simple: Medical care and keeping people well, seen as a kind of work, a public service or a job for the government.
   - _Spending on health now takes up nearly a fifth of the state budget._
   - _Federal health officials issued new guidance on flu shots for older adults._
3. The general physical condition of a person or animal, whether good or poor.
   - Simple: The condition of a person's or animal's body, whether good or poor.
   - _His health declined steadily in the months after the accident._
   - _The vet checked the horse's health before clearing it to race._
4. The overall condition of something like an economy, a company or a relationship, judged by how strong, stable and successful it is.
   - Simple: How well something such as a business, the economy or a relationship is doing.
   - _Investors watch retail sales closely as a sign of the economy's health._
   - _The bank's financial health improved once it sold off its worst loans._
5. The amount of damage an in-game character or object can withstand before being defeated or destroyed.
   - Simple: In a video game, the amount of damage a character or object can take before being defeated or destroyed.
   - _The final boss has so much health that the fight takes ten minutes._
   - _A green bar at the top of the screen shows each player's remaining health._
6. A toast in which people raise their glasses and drink to someone's prosperity.
   - Simple: A toast that people drink to wish someone success.
   - _At the end of the dinner, the best man asked the guests to stand and drink the health of the happy couple._
   - _When the two old friends met again after twenty years, they filled their glasses and drank each other's health._

## Noun

7. A cure or remedy for a disease or affliction. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Something that cures a sickness or makes a person well again.
8. A warrior, hero, or man. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A man, especially a brave fighter or hero.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–7** — Inherited from Middle English helthe, from Old English hǣlþ, going back through Proto-West Germanic and Proto-Germanic to the root *hailaz ("whole, hale"). It can be understood as "whole" or "heal" plus the abstract noun suffix -th.
**Meaning 8** — Proto-Germanic *haliþaz ("man, hero") gave Proto-West Germanic *haliþ, which became Old English hæleþ ("man, hero, fighter") and then Middle English heleð. Dutch held and German Held ("hero") are cognates.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/health (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).