# heart

> English word · Noun · IPA /hɑːt/ · frequency rank #491

## Definitions
1. A muscular organ that pumps blood through the body, traditionally thought to be the seat of emotion.
2. One's feelings and emotions, especially considered as part of one's character.
3. 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.
4. Emotional strength that allows one to continue in difficult situations; courage; spirit; a will to compete.
5. Vigorous and efficient activity; power of fertile production; condition of the soil, whether good or bad.
6. A term of affectionate or kindly and familiar address.
7. Memory.
8. A wight or being.
9. A conventional shape or symbol used to represent the heart, love, or emotion: ♥.
10. A playing card of the suit hearts featuring one or more heart-shaped symbols.
11. The twenty-fourth Lenormand card.
12. The centre, essence, or core.
13. The centre, essence, or core.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **her** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-her)
- **het** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-het)
- **HRT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-hrt)
- **here** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-here)
- **hurt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-hurt)
- **heat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-heat)
- **hero** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-hero)
- **hers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-hers)
- **heir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-heir)
- **herb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-herb)
- **herd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-herd)
- **Herr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-herr)
- **Hera** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-hera)
- **heft** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-heft)
- **heavy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-heavy)
- **henry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-henry)
- **heath** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-heath)
- **heats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-heats)
- **heist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-heist)
- **hoard** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/heart-vs-hoard)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ehart`, `haert`, `hearrt`, `heartt`, `heatr`, `hheart`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/heart