Heep

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic variant spelling for a mass of objects gathered into a pile ; to gather or stack things together into a high mound
2. A dated form of a heaped collection of items lying in a pile ; the act of piling material up into a mound or stack
3. An old spelling for an untidy pile or mound of material ; to accumulate or load something up in a large stack

Etymology: "Heep" is an older spelling of "heap," used in Middle English before spelling settled into its modern form. It is a variant of the same word, not a separate one, and it survives mainly as a historical or dialect spelling. The source word is Old English "hēap," which meant a crowd, a throng, or a large quantity of something, not necessarily a pile of objects. Its relatives in other Germanic languages, such as Dutch "hoop" and German "Haufe," keep the same sense of gathering or accumulation. The pile sense that dominates today developed from that broader idea of things collected together.