Heart or hearth?
heart is a noun meaning “A muscular organ that pumps blood through the body, traditionally thought to be…”; hearth is a noun meaning “The place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) heart is about 162 times as common as hearth.
What is the difference between heart and hearth?
| heart | hearth | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun |
| Meaning | A muscular organ that pumps blood through the body, traditionally thought to be the seat of emotion One's feelings and emotions, especially considered as part of one's character informalTo be fond of. Often bracketed or abbreviated with a heart symbol | The place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a hearthstone and often… A hearthstone, either as standalone or as the floor of an enclosed fireplace or oven |
| Example | She has a cold heart | cooking on an open hearth |
| Forms | hearts | hearths |
| Pronunciation | /hɑːʔ/ /hɑːt/ | /ˈhɑːθ/ [ˈhɑːθ] /ˈhɑɹθ/ |
| In writing | 204 times per million words | 1.3 times per million words |
Sources: heart and hearth in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of heart and hearth
heart
- 1
A muscular organ that pumps blood through the body, traditionally thought to be the seat of emotion
- 2
informalTo be fond of. Often bracketed or abbreviated with a heart symbol
- 3
One's feelings and emotions, especially considered as part of one's character
She has a cold heart
- 4
To mark a comment, post, reply, etc., with the heart symbol (❤)
She hearted my photos of the kids playing with the dogs
- 5
The seat of the affections or sensibilities, collectively or separately, as love, hate, joy, grief, courage, etc.; rarely, the seat of the understanding or will; usually in a good sense; personality
a good, tender, loving, bad, hard, or selfish heart
- 6
To fill an interior with rubble, as a wall or a breakwater
- 7
Compassion
If she had any heart she'd forgive me
- 8
To form a dense cluster of leaves, a heart, especially of lettuce or cabbage
hearth
- 1
The place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination…
- 2
A hearthstone, either as standalone or as the floor of an enclosed fireplace or oven
cooking on an open hearth
- 3
A fireplace: an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire may be built
- 4
The lowest part of a metallurgical furnace
- 5
A brazier, chafing dish, or firebox
- 6
Home or family life
- 7
A household or group in some forms of the modern pagan faith Heathenry
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, heart or hearth?
heart appears 204 times per million words; hearth 1.3 times per million words.
heart 204 times per million wordshearth 1.3 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).