heart
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /hɑːt/
enpr: härt
ipa: /hɑɹt/
rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)t
homophone: Hart
homophone: hart
Forms: form: hearts
form: hart
form: harte
form: hearte
Etymology: PIE word
 *ḱḗr
From Middle English herte, from Old English heorte (“heart”), from Proto-West Germanic *hertā, from Proto-Germanic *hertô (“heart”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱérd (“heart”). Doublet of cardia; see also core.
Most of the modern figurative senses (such as passion or compassion, spirit, inmost feelings, especially love, affection, and courage) were present in Old English. However, the meaning “center” dates from the early 14th century.
The verb sense “to love” is from the 1977 I ❤ NY advertising campaign.
Senses: examples: text: […] I did almoſt beleeve, that the motion of the Heart vvas knovvn to God alone: […]
ref: 1653, William Harvey, “The Causes which Mov’d the Author to Write”, in [anonymous], transl., The Anatomical Exercises of Dr. William Harvey […] Concerning the Motion of the Heart and Blood. […], London: […] Francis Leach, for Richard Lownes […], →OCLC, page 1:
topics: anatomy
medicine
sciences
glosses: A muscular organ that pumps blood through the body, traditionally thought to be the seat of emotion.
examples: text: She has a cold heart.
text: In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.
ref: 1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page 266:
text: Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
ref: 1943, Katherine Woods, transl., The Little Prince, translation of original by Antoine de Saint Exupéry:
text: "Do what the heart commands," Tothero says. "The heart is our only guide."
ref: 1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 47:
glosses: One's feelings and emotions, especially considered as part of one's character.
examples: text: a good, tender, loving, bad, hard, or selfish heart
text: Upon his browes was pourtraid vgly death, / And in his eies the furies of his heart, / That ſhine as Comets, menacing reueng, / And caſts a pale complexion on his cheeks.
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:
text: Calm and deep peace in this wide air,
⁠These leaves that redden to the fall;
⁠And in my heart, if calm at all,
If any calm, a calm despair: […]
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
glosses: The seat of the affections or sensibilities, collectively or separately, as love, hate, joy, grief, courage, etc.; rarely, the seat of the understanding or will; usually in a good sense; personality.
examples: text: The team lost, but they showed a lot of heart.
text: Eve, recovering heart, replied.
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
text: The expelled nations take heart, and when they fled from one country, invaded another.
ref: c. 1679, William Temple, Essay:
text: "We provided a lot of brains and a lot of heart to the response when it was needed," says Sandra Sanchez, director of AFSC's Immigrants' Voice Program in Des Moines.
ref: 2008, "Rights trampled in rush to deport immigrant workers," Quaker Action (magazine), vol. 89, no. 3, page 8
text: The result still leaves Wales bottom of the group but in better heart for Tuesday night's trip to face England at Wembley, who are now outright leaders after their 3-0 win in Bulgaria.
ref: 2011 September 2, “Wales 2-1 Montenegrof”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
text: The heart from the home team was immense. Some of them were out on their feet before the end, but they dug in, throwing themselves in front of shots and crosses, surviving.
ref: 2016 September 28, Tom English, “Celtic 3–3 Manchester City”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), BBC Sport:
synonyms: word: bravery
word: nerve
word: spirit
word: audacity
word: balls
word: bield
word: boldhead
word: boldness
word: bravehood
word: braveness
word: bravery
word: courage
word: courageousness
word: daring
word: fearlessness
word: grit
word: guts
word: heart
word: intrepidity
word: intrepidness
word: mood
word: nerve
word: ovaries
raw_tags: for women
word: pecker
word: pluck
word: spunk
word: steel
word: undauntedness
word: valour
glosses: Emotional strength that allows one to continue in difficult situations; courage; spirit; a will to compete.
examples: text: Both theſe unhappy Soils the Swain forbears, / And keeps a Sabbath of alternate Years: / That the ſpent Earth may gather heart again; / And, better'd by Ceſſation, bear the Grain.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 52, lines 106–109:
glosses: Vigorous and efficient activity; power of fertile production; condition of the soil, whether good or bad.
examples: text: Listen, dear heart, we must go now.
text: My King, my Jove, I speak to thee, my heart!
ref: c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
text: Awake, dear heart, awake. Thou hast slept well./Awake.
ref: 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
text: Certain unscrupulous men may call upon you here in your dressing-room. They will lavish you with flowers, with compliments, with phials of Hungary water and methuselahs of the costliest champagne. You must be wary of such men, my hearts, they are not to be trusted.
ref: 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, pages 9–10:
synonyms: word: honey
word: sugar
word: babber
word: babe
word: precious
word: bae
word: baby
word: babycakes
word: bubba
word: bully
word: buttercup
word: cabbage
word: chickabiddy
word: chickadee
word: chuck
word: cupcake
word: cutie
word: dag
word: darling
word: dear
word: dear heart
word: dearest
word: dearie
word: dearling
word: doll
word: doodlebug
word: dove
word: duck
word: ducky
word: dumpling
word: fam
word: heart
word: heartface
word: heartling
word: heartmate
word: hinny
word: hon
word: honey
word: honey bun
word: honeybunch
word: honeybug
word: honeybunny
word: honeycakes
word: honeypie
word: jewel
word: jo
word: kidder
word: lambchop
word: lambkin
word: lass (archaic except UK
word: dialectal (chiefly Geordie
word: Wearside)
word: informal or poetic)
word: liefling
word: little one
word: love
word: lovebug
word: loveling
word: lovie
word: luvvy
word: m'dear
word: miting
word: moppet
word: mopsy
word: mouse
word: muffin
word: muss
word: old bean
word: old sport
word: pally
word: pet
word: petal
word: poppet
word: pug
word: pumpkin
word: pussums
word: pussy
word: sausage
word: schnookums
word: shug
word: snicklefritz
word: snookums
word: snuggums
word: squishy
word: sug
word: sugar
word: sugar baby
word: sugar beet
word: sugar-plum
word: sugarpie
word: sweet pea
word: sweetcheeks
word: sweetheart
word: sweetie
word: sweetie pie
word: sweets
word: sweetling
word: treasure
word: woobie
glosses: A term of affectionate or kindly and familiar address.
examples: text: I know almost every Beatles song by heart.
qualifier: except in the phrase "by heart"
glosses: Memory.
examples: text: […] I would outstare the sternest eyes that look, / Outbrave the heart most daring on earth, / Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear, / Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey,[…]
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
glosses: A wight or being.
examples: text: "Aw. Thank you." The Cherub kissed the air between them and sent a small cluster of tiny red hearts at her.
ref: 1998, Pat Cadigan, Tea From an Empty Cup, page 106:
glosses: A conventional shape or symbol used to represent the heart, love, or emotion: ♥.
topics: card-games
games
glosses: A playing card of the suit hearts featuring one or more heart-shaped symbols.
topics: cartomancy
human-sciences
mysticism
philosophy
sciences
glosses: The twenty-fourth Lenormand card.
examples: text: That is the heart of the matter
text: The wood at the heart of a tree is the oldest.
text: Buddhists believe that suffering is right at the heart of all life.
text: At last she spoke in a low voice, hesitating slightly, nevertheless going with incisive directness into the very heart of the problem.
ref: 1899, Robert Barr, chapter 3, in The Strong Arm:
text: The narrow streets that twist and turn through the compact heart of Dent are surfaced with cobbles which, in the absence of pavements, spread right across from doorstep to doorstep.
ref: 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 150:
text: The heart of the modern city is T’ien-an-men Square, one of the largest — if not the largest — square in the world, created expressly in the Fifties on the ashes of the old “Tartar city,” an agglomeration of small and unassuming low grey houses, inhabited by the populace that was once excluded from the “Forbidden City.”
ref: 1995, Alberto Zola, “Introduction”, in China, Tiger Books International, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 23:
text: Arcelia Silva Martinez: Watch out!/Arcelia Silva Martinez: We've got geth in the tower./Fai Dan: Protect the heart of the colony!
ref: 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Feros:
text: Norwich's attack centred on a front pair of Steve Morison and Grant Holt, but Younes Kaboul at the heart of the Tottenham defence dominated in the air.
ref: 2011 December 27, Mike Henson, “Norwich 0 - 2 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport:
synonyms: word: crux
word: gist
word: bowels
word: brass tacks
word: core
word: crux
word: essence
word: gist
word: drift
word: guts
word: gravamen
word: heart
word: heart and soul
word: heartstring
word: heartstrings
word: inwardness
word: kernel
word: marrow
word: meat
word: moral of the story
word: nitty-gritty
word: nub
word: nuts and bolts
word: pith
word: punctum saliens
word: quintessence
word: soul
word: spirit
word: stuff
word: substance
word: tenor
glosses: The centre, essence, or core.
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
synonyms: word: crux
word: gist
word: bowels
word: brass tacks
word: core
word: crux
word: essence
word: gist
word: drift
word: guts
word: gravamen
word: heart
word: heart and soul
word: heartstring
word: heartstrings
word: inwardness
word: kernel
word: marrow
word: meat
word: moral of the story
word: nitty-gritty
word: nub
word: nuts and bolts
word: pith
word: punctum saliens
word: quintessence
word: soul
word: spirit
word: stuff
word: substance
word: tenor
glosses: The centre, essence, or core.
The main fraction or product of a distillation run.
coordinate_terms: head
tail
Derived terms: absence makes the heart fonder
absence makes the heart go yonder
absence makes the heart grow fonder
after one's own heart
all heart
antiheart
artichoke heart
at heart
athlete's heart
athletic heart syndrome
bare one's heart
beating heart
beating-heart transplant
beauty heart radish
beefheart
beheart
be still my beating heart
be still my heart
big heart
blackheart
bleeding heart
bleeding-heart
bleeding-heart monkey
bless someone's heart
braveheart
break someone's heart
broken heart
broken-heart syndrome
broken heart syndrome
bullock's heart
by heart
carry one's heart on one's sleeve
carry one's heart upon one's sleeve
cattleheart
change of heart
chicken-heart
closet of the heart
close to one's heart
close to someone's heart
coconut heart
cold hands, warm heart
congenital heart defect
congenital heart disease
congestive heart failure
conversation heart
coronary heart disease
cross my heart
cross my heart and hope to die
cross one's heart
dearheart
dear heart
depraved-heart murder
disheart
dishearten
do someone's heart good
drive a stake through its heart
eat one's heart
eat one's heart out
eat someone's heart
enhearten
faint-heart
faint heart never won fair lady
faint of heart
falseheart
find it in one's heart
finger heart
floating heart
follow one's heart
for one's heart
the bottom of one's heart
the heart
frosted heart
gladden someone's heart
good-hearted
Green Heart
greenheart
halfhearted
hand heart
hand on heart
harden someone's heart
hard-hearted
hard of heart
have a heart
have Jesus in one's heart
have one's heart in
have one's heart in one's boots
have one's heart in the right place
have one's heart set on
have one's heart set upon
have the heart
heartache
heart-ache
heartake
heart and dart
heart and hand
heart and soul
heart as big as Phar Lap
heart attack
heart baby
heart balm
heart-balm
heartbeat
heart beat
heart block
heart-blood
heartbond
heart bond
heartbreak
heart breaker
heartbreaker
heartbreaking
heart-breaking
heart-breakingly
heart-breakingness
heartbroke
heartbroken
heartburn
heart-burn
heartburned
heartburning
heart cake
heart cam
heartcare
heart check
heart clover
heartcut
heartcutting
heartdeep
heart disease
hearten
heart eyes
heartface
heart failure
heart-failure
heart-felt
heartfelt
heart-free
heartful
heartgrief
heart-hand disease
heart-healthy
heartical
heartistic
heartland
heart-leaf
heartleaf
heart-leaved globe daisy
heart-leaved poison
heartless
heartlet
heartlike
heart line
heartline
heartling
heart-lung machine
heartly
heartman
heart massage
heartmate
heart murmur
heart muscle
heart neckline
heart note
heartnut
heart of glass
heart of gold
heart of grace
heart of hearts
heart of oak
heart of palm
heart of stone
heartpea
heart pine
heart-pounding
heart-poundingly
heartquake
heart rate
heart rate monitor
heart-rending
heartrending
heart-rendingly
heartrot
heart rot
heart sac
hearts and flowers
hearts and minds
hearts and rounds
heartscape
Heart's Delight
heart-searching
heartsearching
heartsease
heartseed
heart-service
heart-shaped
heart-shattering
heartsick
heart smart
heartsome
heartsong
hearts on sleeves
heartsore
heart sound
heart-spent
heartspent
heart-splitting
heart starter
heart-stirring
heartstopper
heart-stopper
heartstopping
heart-stopping
heart-stoppingly
heartstricken
heartstring
heartstrings
heart strings
heartstruck
heart surgeon
heart sweetbread
heartswelling
heartthrob
heart-throbbing
heart-thumping
heart to heart
heart-to-heart
heart-touchin'
heart-touching
heart-tugging
heart urchin
heart valve
heart-warmer
heartwarming
heart-warming
heartwater
heart wheel
heartwhole
heart-whole
heartwise
heartwood
heartworm
heartworthy
heartwrenching
heart-wrenching
heart-wrenchingly
hearty
heavy heart
hemp heart
holiday heart
holiday heart syndrome
home is where the heart is
inheart
irritable heart
lay to heart
lie at one's heart
lie at someone's heart
Lionheart
lionheart
lonely-heart
lonely-hearts
lose heart
lose one's heart
love heart
nonheart
off by heart
one's heart bleeds
one's heart in one's mouth
one's heart in one's throat
one's heart is not in it
one's heart out
open-hearted
open-heart surgery
open one's heart
out of heart
out of the goodness of one's heart
oxheart
palmheart
pour one's heart out
pour out one's heart
pseudoheart
pull at someone's heart strings
purple heart
purpleheart
Purple Heart
put one's heart in
put one's heart into
put one's heart on one's sleeve
put the heart across one
right-hearted
round heart disease
sea heart
set one's heart on
set one's heart upon
sick at heart
single-hearted
soldier's heart
someone's heart goes out
someone's heart is in
someone's heart out
steal someone's heart
strike at the heart of
sweetheart
take heart
take to heart
Texas heart shot
the heart wants what it wants
the heart wants what the heart wants
the way to a man's heart is through his stomach
tobacco heart
tug at someone's heart strings
two-heart
unheart
warm someone's heart
warm the cockles of someone's heart
wear one's heart on one's sleeve
wear one's heart upon one's sleeve
white-heart
wholehearted
win someone's heart
with all of one's heart
with all one's heart
xenoheart
yellowheart
young at heart