Etymology

hearten

H4E1A1R1T1E1N1

Today it means: To give heart to; to encourage, urge on, cheer, give confidence to. Full definition →

English heart ← Middle English herte ← Old English heorte
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱerd-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱérd
  3. Proto-Germanic*hertô
  4. Proto-West Germanic*hertā
  5. Old Englishheorte
  6. Middle Englishherte
  7. Englishheart
  8. English todayhearten

From heart + -en. Compare lose heart.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.