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heartbreak

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Etymology and origin of the English word heartbreak

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 1330 Sir Tristrem
Ultimate origins
Proto-Germanic *hertāOld English brecan
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Old English heorte
English heart
English heartbreak
From the same root
English heartbroken ← heart
English hearty ← heart
English sweetheart ← heart

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈhɑːt.bɹeɪk/[1]
  • US: /ˈhɑɹt.bɹeɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English heart + break, the second element being the noun break, an act of breaking.[2][3][4] The OED compares the phrase to break a person's heart,[2] which Etymonline dates from about 1400.[3] The verb, recorded from 1674, is taken by Merriam-Webster as a back-formation from heartbroken,[5][6] and by the OED as a compound of the noun and the verb break, formed after the noun and after heartbroken and heartbreaking.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Overwhelming sorrow or grief: the OED's first record is in the romance Sir Tristrem, about 1330 (perhaps composed before 1300), a quotation it takes from the Middle English Dictionary.[2] Merriam-Webster likewise dates the noun to the 14th century,[5] while Etymonline and Dictionary.com date it only from the 1570s and 1575–85.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

After the early record the noun is next found in the late 16th century, in a group of compounds of heart with break: heartbroken from 1572 and heartbreaking from 1591, in Spenser.[2] From 1583 a heartbreak could also be a single occasion of such grief, or a person or thing that causes it,[2][7] and since 1694 someone who breaks hearts.[7] An adjective use, "heartbreaking", lasted only from 1586 to 1628.[2][7] The verb, "to break the heart of", appears in 1674.[2] In current use the grief is above all that of bereavement or of a failed love affair.[2][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1330 – overwhelming sorrow, in Sir Tristrem.[2]
  • c. 1400 – the phrase break someone's heart.[3]
  • 1572 – heartbroken.[2][5]
  • 1583 – an occasion of grief, or something that causes it.[2]
  • 1586 – adjective, heartbreaking (obsolete by 1628).[2]
  • 1591 – heartbreaking, in Spenser.[2]
  • 1674 – verb, to break the heart of.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Overwhelming grief or sorrow, especially from bereavement or disappointment in love: The family never got over the heartbreak of losing the farm.[8][2][5]
  2. Something or someone that causes such grief.[5][2]

Verb

  1. To break the heart of; to cause deep sorrow to.[5][2]

Word family

  • heartbreaker

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  7. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Heartbreak.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/heartbreak. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·