heorte

Forms

heorte f (weak n-stem; genitive singular heortan, nominative plural heortan)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hertā, from Proto-Germanic *hertô (“heart”).^[1][2] Its cognates are Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉 (hairtō), Old Norse hjarta, Old Frisian herte, Old Saxon herta and Old High German herza.^[3][4][5] Kroonen calls it an old Indo-European word, whose nominative and genitive differed in ablaut; the same root Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd- (“heart”) gives Latin cor, Ancient Greek καρδία (kardía), Lithuanian širdis and Old Irish cride.^[3][6][4]

The Proto-West Germanic ending *-ā gave Old English ⟨-e⟩, as in tunge "tongue".^[7] The noun is a weak feminine, where Gothic, Norse, Old Saxon and Old High German have a neuter.^[8][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in the mid-ninth-century gloss of the Vespasian Psalter: Bearn monnan hu longe hwefie on heortan, "Sons of men, how long heavy of heart", over Latin “Filii hominum usquequo graues corde” in Psalm 4.^[9][10] The Pastoral Care of 890×897 speaks of those who set themselves up as heortan læcas, "physicians of the heart".^[11][10]

Semantic evolution

Toller's Supplement starts with the bodily organ, the heart as the seat of life and the region of the breast, and goes on to the heart as the seat of feeling, will and thought, of one's inmost being, of love, courage and understanding.^[12] The organ appears in the medical texts (gif ðín heorte ace, "if your heart aches").^[13] In the laws it is used figuratively, as in inweardre heortan, "with heartfelt mind".^[14] It glosses Latin cor.^[4] Adjectives in -heort are frequent, among them blīþheort, gromheort, rūmheort and stearcheort in Beowulf.^[8]

The word lived on as Middle English herte, now English heart.^[15][16]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – on heortan “in heart” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[9][10]
• 890×897 – heortan læcas “physicians of the heart” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[11][10]
• s. x med. – the bodily heart in Bald's Leechbook (Royal 12 D. xvii).^[17][13][10]
• s. x/xi – heortan in the Beowulf manuscript.^[18][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. the heart as an organ of the body.^[13][19]
2. the breast; the heart as the seat of life.^[12]
3. the soul or mind as the seat of feeling, will and thought.^[12][19]
4. courage.^[12][4]

Word family

• heortlēas
• heorthama
• heortscræf
• hātheort
• mildheort
• blīþheort
• stearcheort

Descendants

• Middle English herte (→ English heart; Scots hert; Scots hart)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 182
3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 222
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. heorte
5. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 232
6. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 157
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 59
8. ^ a b c Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. heorte
9. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
10. ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
11. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
12. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 535
13. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 530
14. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 114
15. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
16. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
17. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 412
18. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
19. ^ a b Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 179