hearts

Overview

Meaning Now

• plural of heart: the organ that pumps blood, the central or most important part of something, or courage and enthusiasm
• the suit in playing cards marked with red heart symbols; a card of this suit, or the card game Hearts
• third-person singular of the verb heart: to encourage or hearten; informally, to like or love very much

Journey

Old English heorte is a native Germanic word; its Latin cousin cor is not its source. In medieval English the heart was widely treated as the seat of emotion, thought, and courage, and by the early modern period the word also named the red card suit and the game played with it. The plural hearts is therefore both an ordinary plural and a fixed name for the suit and game.

Evolution

1. Proto-Indo-European

   *ḱerd-

   “heart; seat of feeling and thought”

   Reconstructed root; the exact Proto-Indo-European noun inflection is debated.

2. Proto-Germanic

   *hertô

   “heart”

   An n-stem noun; source of the West Germanic forms.

3. Proto-West Germanic

   *hertā

   “heart”

   Form ancestral to Old English heorte.

4. Old English

   heorte; plural heortan

   “heart; mind, courage, center”

   Native Germanic word, not a Latin borrowing.

5. Middle English

   herte; plural hertes

   “heart; courage; central part”

   Loss of final -e and development of the modern plural in -s.

6. Modern English

   heart; hearts

   “heart; courage; central part; card suit; game Hearts”

   The plural hearts also names the card suit and the game played with it.

Connections

Explore next

Related to hearts

• grass→
• heart→
• none→
• hearth→