cuer

cuer¹ heart

Pronunciation

• Reconstructed: /ˈkwɛɾ/, [ˈkwœɾ]^[1]

Forms

cuer m (oblique plural cuers; nominative singular cuers)^[1]

• quor, coer, cueur, ceur^[2][3]

Etymology

The word for the heart is inherited from Vulgar Latin *corem, from Latin cor (“heart”).^[1][4] Bloch and Wartburg and Gamillscheg start from a popular Latin declension with the oblique stem *coris in place of Classical cordis.^[5][6] The Latin word continues Proto-Italic *kord and the Proto-Indo-European word for the heart, Proto-Indo-European *ḱērd, whose oblique stem the Latin paradigm was built on;^[7] its cognates include Ancient Greek κῆρ (kêr), Ancient Greek καρδία (kardía) and Old English heorte.^[8][7]

The DHLF lists the early spellings quor (about 1050) and quer (1080), then coer and the spelling used here, before the modern French cœur.^[2] Gamillscheg derives the phrase for "by heart" from Late Latin ex corde, through a form with per (“through”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are the Passion de Clermont, of about 1000, and the Vie de saint Léger, of the 10th century, both with the form cor.^[9][10][11] In the Vie de saint Alexis the heart is the seat of life: Ço'st granz merveile que li mens quors tant duret "it is a great wonder that my heart lasts so long".^[12]

Semantic evolution

The Roland uses the word for the bodily organ, when the emperor has the hearts of the dead gathered in silk cloth, and for the chest: L'escut li freint, cuntre le coer li quasset "he breaks his shield and smashes it against his chest".^[12] Wace's Sainte Marguerite (1130–1140) has it as the seat of love: Trestot son cuer li adona "she gave him her whole heart".^[12] In the Roman de Renart (1195–1200) it is the seat of bodily sensations, as in il avoit a son cuer grant fein "he was very hungry",^[12] and Bloch and Wartburg explain such uses from Latin medicine, which called the mouth of the stomach by the word for "heart".^[5]

Tobler–Lommatzsch shows the heart as a person's most precious possession, tenir le cuer a aucun "to keep someone alive", the return of consciousness after a faint, and phrases for heartbreak and a heart of stone.^[13] The AND adds courage, the mind and memory, the centre of anything, and a term of affection.^[14] Par cuer "by heart" is recorded about 1200.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – cor in the Passion de Clermont and the Vie de saint Léger.^[9][10]
• c. 1090 – quors in the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050 by the TLFi's dating).^[12][2]
• c. 1100 – coer and quer in the Chanson de Roland.^[15][16]
• 1100–1133 – the first Anglo-Norman record cited by the AND.^[14]
• 1130–1140 – cuer, the seat of love, in Wace's Sainte Marguerite.^[12]
• 1177 – cuer in Chrétien de Troyes's Yvain, 68 times.^[17]
• c. 1200 – par cuer "by heart".^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. the heart, the bodily organ; also the chest.^[14][18][12]
2. the heart as the seat of life.^[12][13]
3. the heart as the seat of emotions, love and devotion.^[14][1]
4. courage, determination.^[14]
5. the mind, thoughts, memory;^[14][5] par cuer, by heart.^[14][5]
6. the centre or interior of something.^[14]
7. a term of affection, darling.^[14]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads the word coer 1 and first cites it from the first third of the 12th century, with phrases such as "earnestly", "willingly" and "with heart and soul".^[14] In the Norman Roman du Mont Saint-Michel cuer means both the heart and the choir of the church.^[19]

Descendants

• Bourguignon côr^[1]
• Middle French coeur (→ French cœur)^[1]
• Norman tchoeu^[1]
• Poitevin-Saintongeais çheùr^[1]
• Walloon cour^[1]

cuer² choir

Pronunciation

• Reconstructed: /ˈkwɛɾ/, [ˈkwœɾ]^[1]

Forms

cuer m (oblique plural cuers; nominative singular cuers)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the choir is borrowed from Latin chorus (“dance with song; band of singers”), which is from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós, “round dance, band of dancers, choir”).^[20][21][22] Bloch and Wartburg call it a Frenchified form of the Latin word,^[23] and the DHLF an adaptation made at different times: the present form about 1120, quer about 1150, then Middle French chore and chœur in 1568.^[20] Gamillscheg stresses that, despite the Old French form, the word did not develop as an inherited word would.^[24] The FEW lists it with Old Occitan cor.^[25]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Cambridge Psalter of about 1120, whose Te Deum has li cuers des apostles "the choir of the apostles", translating Latin apostolorum chorus.^[12][26] In the Voyage de saint Brendan of the same years the word names a group of birds singing as a choir.^[12][25]

Semantic evolution

The word named the choirs of angels and certain groups of saints from about 1120 to Gautier de Coinci,^[25][12] and the voices singing the divine office from the end of the 12th century.^[25] In Wace's Vie de saint Nicolas, about 1150, quer is the part of a church around the altar where the clergy sing the mass.^[12][20] The chorus of ancient drama was named chore and chœur only in 1568, and a piece of music sung by several voices in 1704.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – li cuers des apostles in the Te Deum of the Cambridge Psalter.^[12][26]
• c. 1120 – a choir of singing birds in the Voyage de saint Brendan.^[12]
• 1121–1125 – the first Anglo-Norman record cited by the AND.^[27]
• c. 1150 – quer, the part of a church around the altar, in Wace's Vie de saint Nicolas.^[12]
• 1568 – chore and chœur for the chorus of the ancient theatre.^[12][20]

Meanings

Noun

1. a choir, a band of singers; choral singing.^[27][28]
2. a choir of angels or saints.^[25][12]
3. a host, group or band.^[27]
4. singing and dancing.^[27]
5. the choir or chancel of a church, the space around the altar.^[27][18][19]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads the word coer 2 and first cites it from 1121–1125.^[27] Middle English borrowed it as quer from Old French cuer and quer,^[29] and English choir, first the part of the church where the choir sings, was respelled after the classical form in the 17th century without changing its pronunciation.^[30]

Descendants

• French chœur^[1]
• Middle English quer (borrowed; → English choir)^[1]