Heart

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Heart

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

noun and verb

Pronunciation

hart  /hɑːt/

Definition

As a noun: the muscular organ that pumps blood through the body; the centre of emotion, feeling, and courage; the most essential or central part of something. As a verb (informal): to love or feel affection for (I heart New York).

Plain meaning

Heart is both the organ that pumps blood and the word for the emotional and moral centre of a person. It is one of the most productive and culturally rich words in English — the heart of the matter, by heart, take heart, lose heart, heartfelt — and one of the oldest.

Register

Neutral in anatomical contexts; richly literary and emotional in metaphorical uses. Heart is one of the most universally used words in the language — from the most technical medical context to the most intimate personal one — and generates more idioms and compounds than almost any other word.