Etymologically
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cor

Etymology and origin of the Latin word cor

History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɔr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔr][1]

Forms

cor n (genitive cordis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kord, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱērd (“heart”).[2][1] The Latin paradigm was built on the PIE oblique stem *ḱr̥d-.[2] It is cognate with Hittite ker (“heart”), Sanskrit हृद् (hṛ́d-), Ancient Greek κῆρ (kêr) and καρδία (kardíā), Old Armenian սիրտ (sirt), Lithuanian širdìs, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉 (hairtō) and Old Irish cride.[2] English heart belongs here through Old English heorte.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Livius Andronicus (280/260–before 200 BC).[2][3] The earliest anatomical example in the OLD is Cato's remedy "if the heart aches" (si cor dolet),[4] while in Ennius the heart is already the seat of thought: "my heart does not agree with what my eyes see".[4]

Semantic evolution

As the organ that drives the blood it could stand for life and for a living person (Virgil's "bravest hearts"); it also named the upper opening of the stomach.[4][5] Thought, memory, judgement and will were placed in the heart, so cor meant the mind and good sense (cor habere), and it was the seat of feeling and courage.[4][6] The TLL notes that these figurative uses are old but belong mainly to poetry and everyday speech; prose writers avoided them except in the phrase cordī esse, "to be dear".[7] Plautus already uses cor meum as an endearment.[4]

Lucretius was the first to use the plural corda for one heart, and Virgil followed.[7] Under the influence of the Bible the figurative heart became very common in Christian writers.[7] Medieval Latin used it for the core of lifeless things, and ex corde meant "by heart".[8] It continues in French cœur, whose derivative courage passed into German.[3]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses the word.[2][3]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius treats the heart as the seat of judgement.[4][3]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus calls a lover cor meum, "my heart".[4][3]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato prescribes for the heart in his book on farming.[4][3]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius first uses the plural corda for the singular.[7][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero reports an ox found without a heart at a sacrifice.[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The heart as an organ.[4][5]
  2. The upper opening of the stomach.[5]
  3. The mind or soul, as the seat of thought and memory.[4]
  4. Intelligence, good sense, as in cor habēre, to have sense.[4]
  5. The seat of the will.[4]
  6. Feelings, spirit, courage.[4][6]
  7. cordī esse: to be dear or pleasing to someone.[4][5]
  8. (term of endearment) sweetheart.[4]
  9. (poetic) A person.[5]
  10. (Medieval Latin) The core or inmost part of a thing.[8]
  11. (Medieval Latin) ex corde: by heart.[8]

Word family

  • bicors
  • corcillum
  • corculum
  • cordātus
  • cordipugus
  • cordolium
  • excors
  • praecordia
  • socors
  • vēcors
  • cordiālis
  • misericors
  • crēdō
  • English heart

Usage notes

The genitive plural is cordium.[5][7] Old Latin also had an unrelated adverb cōr, a form of cūr "why".[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill

Related etymologies

  • hospes · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • verbum · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • ignis · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • mors · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • sal · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • rex · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • equus · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • pater · also from Proto-Indo-European
Cite this entry

“Cor.” Etymologically, 10 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/cor. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·