English

cardiac

Cardiac comes from Latin cardiacus ‘related to the heart or stomach’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd-.

Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerd-¹‘heart’reconstructed
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱḗr¹‘heart’reconstructed
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥díyeh₂¹reconstructed
Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kərdíyā¹reconstructed
Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκᾰρδῐ́ᾱ¹kărdĭ́ā‘heart’
Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκᾰρδῐᾰκός¹kărdĭăkós‘concerning the heart’
Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcardiacus¹‘related to the heart or stomach’
Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600cardiaque¹
Englishtodaycardiac¹

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

¹ Wiktionary, English cardiac

Lineage

Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerd-1Wiktionary, English cardiac‘heart’reconstructed
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱḗr1Wiktionary, English cardiac‘heart’reconstructed
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥díyeh₂1Wiktionary, English cardiacreconstructed
Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kərdíyā1Wiktionary, English cardiacreconstructed
Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκᾰρδῐ́ᾱ1Wiktionary, English cardiackărdĭ́ā‘heart’
Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκᾰρδῐᾰκός1Wiktionary, English cardiackărdĭăkós‘concerning the heart’
Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcardiacus1Wiktionary, English cardiac‘related to the heart or stomach’
Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600cardiaque1Wiktionary, English cardiac
Englishtodaycardiac1Wiktionary, English cardiac

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd- ‘heart’

record, encourage, courage, accord, concord, discord, 9 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr ‘heart’

heart, creed, 1 more

Today it means

adj Pertaining to the heart.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cardiac”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd- / cardiac

Shirt and support for this word

cardiaccardiac