Etymograph

English

heart

Heart comes from Middle English harte, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerd-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱḗr1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hertô1reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hertā1reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150heorte1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500harte1
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588heart1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English heart
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Upon his browes was pourtraid vgly death, / And…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerd-Wiktionary, English heartreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱḗrWiktionary, English heartreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hertôWiktionary, English heartreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hertāWiktionary, English heartreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150heorteWiktionary, English heart
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500harteWiktionary, English heart
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588heartWiktionary, English heart. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Upon his browes was pourtraid vgly death, / And…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with heart, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱerd-

  • record ← recorde
  • encourage ← encouragen ← encoragier ← encoragier ← corage
  • courage ← corage ← corage ← *corāticum ← *corem
  • accord ← accorden ← acorder ← *accordāre ← concordo
  • concord ← concorde ← concordia ← concors ← cor
  • discord ← descorde ← descort ← discordia ← discors
  • myocardium ← μῦς ← *mū́s ← *múHs

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr

  • creed ← crede ← crēda ← crēdō ← *krezdō
  • cardiac ← cardiaque ← cardiacus ← κᾰρδῐᾰκός ← κᾰρδῐ́ᾱ

9 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun A muscular organ that pumps blood through the body, traditionally thought to be the seat of emotion.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “heart”. 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- / heart