Etymologically
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core

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /kɔː/, US /kɔːr/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English kore,[2] probably borrowed from Old French cuer (“core of fruit, heart of a vegetable; heart”) (coeur),[3][2] from Latin cor (“heart”),[3][2] from Proto-Indo-European *kerd- (“heart”).[3] Hoad, Merriam-Webster and the New Oxford call it of unknown origin.[4][5][6] It has traditionally been thought to replace colk “heart of an apple”, but that word is not recorded until about 1400, while the form cork “core of an apple” is from probably about 1300.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The central part of an apple or pear: probably before 1325 in Barnhart,[2] the early 14th century in Etymonline, as the heart or inmost part of anything,[3] and 1398 in the OED, as the horny seed capsule.[7]

Semantic evolution

An unburnt part in the centre of a coal is from about 1420,[7] and the hard centre of a boil from 1532.[7][4] The general sense “central or innermost part” is from the 17th century.[4] A central portion cut out and removed, as of rock in boring, is from the 1640s.[3][7] The internal mould of a casting is from 1730,[3] and the part of a nuclear reactor holding the fuel from 1949.[3][2] The verb, to remove the core of fruit, is from the mid-15th century.[3][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1325 – the core of a fruit.[2]
  • c. 1420 – the centre of a coal.[7]
  • mid-15th century – verb, to core.[3]
  • 1532 – the core of a boil.[7]
  • 17th century – the central part of anything.[4]
  • 1640s – a cylinder cut out.[3]
  • 1730 – a mould for a casting.[3]
  • 1949 – the core of a nuclear reactor.[3][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The hard central part of a fruit such as an apple, containing the seeds.
  2. The central or innermost part of anything.
  3. The most important part; the essence.
  4. A set of required courses in a curriculum.
  5. The central part of a nuclear reactor, containing the fuel.
  6. A cylinder of rock or soil taken by drilling.

Verb

  1. To remove the core of.

Word family

  • corer
  • coreless
  • coremaker
  • multicore
  • hard-core
  • soft-core

Usage notes

A separate core, “a body of people, a company”, chiefly Scottish from 1622, is an alteration of Middle English chore “chorus”.[7][5] In dialect core was also the heart or pith of wood and a disease of sheep.[8] CORE is also the Congress of Racial Equality.[9]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin