What does "heart" mean?

Q: What does "heart" mean?

1. (body organ) the organ in your chest that pumps blood through your body. 2. (emotions and love) your deepest feelings, especially love and kindness. 3. (the center) the middle or most important part of something. 4. (courage) the bravery or spirit to keep doing something difficult. 5. (shape or card suit) a shape with two curves at the top (♥) or a card from the red suit in a deck. 6. (to love or like) to like or love something very much. 7. (to like a post) to click a heart button on a social media post to show you like it.

heart — meaning, definition & examples

Word

01body organ

A1 · Beginner Countable noun Medicine

n. the organ in your chest that pumps blood through your body.

n. the hollow muscular organ that maintains the circulation of blood by rhythmic contraction and dilation.

“You can feel your heart beating faster when you run up the stairs.”

“Regular aerobic exercise strengthens the heart muscle, improving its efficiency at pumping oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.”

02emotions and love

A2 · Elementary Uncountable noun

n. your deepest feelings, especially love and kindness.

n. the metaphorical seat of emotions, affections, and sensibilities.

“She knew in her heart that she was making the right decision.”

“The poet explores the conflict between the rational mind and the impulsive heart in his latest collection of sonnets.”

Synonyms

soul feelings emotions

Antonyms

mind intellect

03the center

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun

n. the middle or most important part of something.

n. the central, innermost, or most essential part of a place, organization, or problem.

“Our hotel was located right in the heart of the city.”

“The investigation eventually reached the heart of the matter, uncovering a complex web of financial mismanagement.”

Synonyms

core center essence

Antonyms

edge periphery

04courage

B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun

n. the bravery or spirit to keep doing something difficult.

n. the capacity for endurance, courage, or enthusiasm in the face of difficulty.

“The team lost the game, but they showed a lot of heart.”

“Despite the overwhelming odds, the small group of volunteers never lost heart and continued their rescue efforts through the night.”

Synonyms

courage spirit bravery

Antonyms

cowardice

05shape or card suit

A2 · Elementary Countable noun

n. a shape with two curves at the top (♥) or a card from the red suit in a deck.

n. a conventional symmetric representation of the heart; also, one of the four suits of playing cards.

“He drew a small heart at the bottom of the letter.”

“In many card games, the queen of hearts is a significant card that players try to avoid collecting.”

06to love or like

B1 · Intermediate Informal · Humorous

v. to like or love something very much.

v. to feel great affection for; often used as a substitute for the word 'love' in digital contexts.

“I heart New York; it is such an exciting city to visit.”

“The marketing campaign used the slogan 'I heart local coffee' to appeal to younger, social-media-savvy consumers.”

Synonyms

love adore like

Antonyms

hate

07to like a post

B1 · Intermediate Computing Informal

v. to click a heart button on a social media post to show you like it.

v. to indicate approval or appreciation of digital content by clicking a heart-shaped icon.

“Don't forget to heart my photo if you enjoyed the video.”

“The influencer noticed that her followers were more likely to heart posts that featured candid, behind-the-scenes footage.”

Synonyms

like favorite

PIE word *ḱḗr From Middle English herte, from Old English heorte (“heart”), from Proto-West Germanic hertā, from Proto-Germanic hertô (“heart”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱérd (“heart”). Doublet of cardia; see also core. Most of the modern figurative senses (such as passion or compassion, spirit, inmost feelings, especially love, affection, and courage) were present in Old English. However, the meaning “center” dates from the early 14th century. The verb sense “to love” is from the 1977 I ❤ NY advertising campaign. Notes on spelling The spelling ⟨ear⟩ for /ɑː(ɹ)/ is paralleled by hearken and hearth, but is problematics since a Early Modern variant with /ɛːr/ can be posited for those words, but not heart. Perhaps it represents Middle Scots hart /hɛːrt/ (reflecting the Scots lengthening of /a/ before /r/ then a consonant, then the early actuation of the Great Vowel Shift in Scots) or a parallel development in Northern England. Alternatively, a back-spelling by speakers of dialects where preconsonantal /ɛːr/ was shortened early, allowing it to undergo the late Middle English lowering to /ar/ (reflected in forms such as larn "learn") is possible.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

NOUN

heart(A2)

ADJECTIVE