What does edh mean?
The edh (capital Ð, lowercase ð) is an alphabetic letter that originated in Old English writing, where it was created by modifying the Latin letter D to represent the voiced dental fricative — the soft "th" sound heard at the start of "this" or in the middle of "mother". Alongside its counterpart thorn (þ), which covered both voiced and voiceless "th" sounds, edh served Middle English texts before being gradually replaced by the digraph "th" as printing practices standardized around continental conventions. The letter did not vanish entirely, however: Icelandic adopted it and still uses it today, which is why ð appears prominently in modern Icelandic place names such as Reykjavík. For students of linguistics and medieval manuscripts, the edh remains an essential piece of terminology, marking one of English's few homegrown contributions to the alphabet.
nounThe letter ð of the Old English alphabet, representing the voiced dental fricative sound heard in modern English words like "this" and "breathe". The character is still used in Icelandic and Faroese orthography today.
- The letter ð of the Old English and medieval Latin-based alphabets, denoting the voiced dental fricative /ð/.
- By extension, the character ð as retained in modern Icelandic and Faroese spelling.
"The manuscript's scribe wrote the word with an edh rather than a thorn."
"Students learning Anglo-Saxon must master three unfamiliar letters: ash, thorn, and edh."
"In Icelandic, the edh appears in everyday words such as "vaða", giving the language its distinctive look."
A regular plural, used mainly when counting occurrences of the letter in a text or manuscript.
"The scribe used far more edhs than thorns throughout the document."
The edh is the reason Icelandic still uses a letter English abandoned over 700 years ago — you've seen ð in "Reykjavík" without knowing its name.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of edh
The edh was devised by Old English scribes, likely during the early medieval period, as a modification of the Latin letter D — a crossed form created because Latin offered no symbol for the "th" sounds of Germanic languages. The name itself comes from the Old English letter's traditional pronunciation. After falling out of English use in favour of "th", the character survived in Scandinavian orthography, most notably Icelandic, which preserves it to this day.
How edh is actually used
"Edh" is primarily encountered in linguistics, palaeography, and discussions of historical orthography; outside these contexts it is rare. It is also called "eth", and the two names refer to the same letter.
Easily confused with edh
Thorn (þ) is a different Old English letter that represented both the voiced and voiceless "th" sounds, whereas edh (ð) specifically denoted the voiced dental fricative.