heart |härt|noun1 a hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood through the circulatory system by rhythmic contraction and dilation. In vertebrates there may be up to four chambers (as in humans), with two atria and two ventricles.• the region of the chest above the heart : holding hand on heart for the Pledge of Allegiance.• the heart regarded as the center of a person's thoughts and emotions, esp. love or compassion : hardening his heart, he ignored her entreaties | he poured out his heart to me | he has no heart.• one's mood or feeling : they had a change of heart.• courage or enthusiasm : they may lose heart as the work mounts up |Mary took heart from the encouragement handed out | I put my heart and soul into it and then got fired.2 the central or innermost part of something : right in the heart of the city.• the vital part or essence : the heart of the matter.• the close compact head of a cabbage or lettuce.3 a conventional representation of a heart with two equal curves meeting at a point at the bottom and a cusp at the top.• ( hearts) one of the four suits in a conventional pack of playing cards, denoted by a red figure of such a shape.• a card of this suit.• ( hearts) a card game similar to whist, in which players attempt to avoid taking tricks containing a card of this suit.4 [usu. with adj. ] the condition of agricultural land as regards fertility.DERIVATIVEShearted adjective : [in combination ] a generous-hearted woman.ORIGIN Old English heorte, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hartand German Herz, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin cor,cord- and Greek kēr, kardia.
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