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courage

Etymology and origin of the English word courage

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1300
Borrowed from
Old French corage
Ultimate origin
Latin (cor)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈkʌr.ɪdʒ/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English corage, borrowed from Old French corage (“heart, innermost feelings; temper”), curage (modern French courage),[2][3][4] from Vulgar Latin *corāticum, which also gave Italian coraggio and Spanish coraje,[2][3] from cor (“heart”) and the suffix -age,[3][5] from the PIE root Proto-Indo-European *kerd- (“heart”).[2] See heart and cordial.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The heart as the seat of feeling, hence spirit, temperament or frame of mind: about 1300 in the OED and Etymonline, probably before 1300 in Barnhart.[7][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Barnhart notes that all the senses stem from the notion of the heart as the centre of feeling, thought and character.[3] In Middle English corage meant broadly what was in one's mind, intention or purpose (about 1320),[7][2] and also liveliness, vigour, confidence and sexual desire, senses now gone.[7] Bravery, the quality of mind that meets danger without fear, is from 1375 in the OED, before 1338 in Barnhart, the late 14th century in Etymonline;[7][3][2] Old English had ellen in this sense.[2] The verb, to encourage, was very common in the 16th century.[7] Courageous is probably from before 1300.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – the heart, spirit.[7][2]
  • c. 1320 – intention, purpose.[7]
  • before 1338 – bravery.[3]
  • 1470–85 – the verb, to encourage.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The quality of mind that lets a person face danger, pain or difficulty without fear; bravery.
  2. (the courage of one's convictions) The confidence to act on one's beliefs.

Word family

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ 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. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Courage.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/courage. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·