sweetheart

Etymology

It is swete herte,^[2][3][4] a compound from English sweet + heart.^[5][6][7][8] Etymonline notes that it was properly written separately until the Elizabethans began to run it together.^[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A term of endearment, "darling", used chiefly in addressing someone: about 1290, in the South English Legendary life of St Kenelm.^[5] Etymonline dates it to about 1300 as a form of address to a child.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Chaucer used swete herte in Troilus and Criseyde,^[4] and Etymonline dates the noun meaning "loved one" to the late 14th century.^[6] The OED dates the sense "a person with whom one is in love" to 1576,^[5] and has a person loved illicitly, a paramour, between 1589 and 1796;^[5] Johnson (1755) gave "a lover or mistress".^[9] As a form of address it could also be ironic or contemptuous,^[5] and in American slang from the early 20th century it was used with no affection implied, as in Sinclair Lewis's Elmer Gantry (1927).^[10] Several transferred senses grew up in colloquial and dialect use: a heart-shaped sugar cake or jam tart (1732), the burrs and prickly seeds that cling to clothes (1750) and a tame rabbit (1840).^[5] In North American usage sweetheart has meant anything especially good of its kind since 1942.^[5][6] The adjective, for an agreement made privately between a trade union and an employer to the disadvantage of the workers, is recorded from 1959,^[5][6] as in sweetheart contract and sweetheart deal.^[10] The verb, to court or be courting, dates from 1798;^[5] in Cumberland it could mean to seduce.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1290 – a term of endearment.^[5]
• late 14th century – a loved one.^[6]
• 1576 – a person with whom one is in love.^[5]
• 1589–1796 – a paramour.^[5]
• 1732 – a heart-shaped sugar cake or jam tart.^[5]
• 1798 – verb, to court or be courting.^[5]
• 1927 – (US slang) a form of address implying no affection.^[10]
• 1942 – (North America) anything especially good of its kind.^[5][6]
• 1959 – a union–employer agreement that disadvantages the workers.^[5][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person one is in love with; a boyfriend or girlfriend: They had been sweethearts since school.
2. A term of endearment for someone one loves or likes; also used ironically or with no affection.
3. (informal) A kind, generous or lovable person.
4. (North America, informal) Anything especially good of its kind.

Adjective

1. Of an agreement: made privately between a trade union and an employer, to the advantage of the employer rather than the workers.
2. Of a garment: having a neckline shaped like the top of a heart.

Verb

1. (dated) To court someone, or to be courting.

Word family

• sweetheart contract
• sweetheart neckline

Related words

• sweet
• sweetie
• heart
• darling
• honey

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
11. ^ 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)