The Heart Symbol Does Not Look Like a Heart
The heart pumps blood around the body. The familiar symbol resembles no actual heart, and its origin is genuinely uncertain.
The heart is the muscular organ that pumps blood, and by long tradition the seat of emotion. The familiar symbol resembles no real heart, and nobody knows where it came from: proposed sources include ivy and fig leaves, the seed of the extinct contraceptive plant silphium, and stylised medieval drawings. The shape appears in art centuries before it settled on romance. The organ sense came first; the emotional one is ancient but metaphorical.
- The blood-pumping organ. *A healthy heart.*
- The seat of emotion. *A broken heart.*
- The centre. *The heart of the city.*
- Learn by heart — memorise. *Learned by heart.*
- Cardiac — the medical adjective. *Cardiac arrest.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | heart | A strong heart. |
| Plural | hearts | Two hearts. |
| Adjective | hearty | A hearty meal. |
| Adjective | cardiac | Cardiac muscle. |
| Old English | heorte | Heart. |
- His heart rate was elevated.Medicine.
- She knew the poem by heart.Memory.
- The symbol looks nothing like the organ.Iconography.
Heart idioms
- Learn by heart — memorise thoroughly
- Wear your heart on your sleeve — show feelings openly
- Take heart — be encouraged
- Heart of the matter — the essential point
- A change of heart — a reversal of feeling or decision
Old English *heorte*, from a Germanic root shared with German *Herz*, related to Latin *cor* and Greek *kardia*.
Where does the heart symbol come from?
It is genuinely uncertain. Ivy leaves, fig leaves and the seed of the plant silphium have all been proposed.
Why do we say learn by heart?
Because the heart was long thought to be the seat of memory and understanding, not just emotion.