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heart (in 1H4 III. i. 251 “Heart!,” taken by some in sense 3, is the abbreviation of ‘God's heart!’, ‘sheart!’）
1. disposition, temperament Meas. V. i. 385 “Not changing with habit,” Ado II. i. 327 “a merry ”
2. feeling Mer.V. I. ii. 139 “with so good ” (=so heartily).
3. freq. as a term of endearment, appreciation or commendation, and compassion Tp. I. i. 6 “Heigh, my h-s! cheerly, cheerly, my h-s!,” LLL. V. i. 113 “sweet ,” H5 II. i. 123 “poor heart,” Cym. I. i. 112 “take it, ” ; cf. MND. IV. ii. 27 “where are these h-s?” (=good fellows).
4. vital or essential part, core, centre, essence Wiv. II. ii. 238 “the heart of my purpose,” Tw.N. I. v. 204 “the of my message,” Cor. I. vi. 55 “Their very heart of hope.” ∥ S. is the earliest authority for “in ” (Shr. IV. v. 77), “fight one's out” (Troil. III. ii. 53), “ of ” (Troil. IV. v. 170, Ham. III. ii. 78), “wear my upon my sleeve” (Oth. I. i. 64), “do any man's heart good” (MND. I. ii. 74).
A Shakespeare Glossary. C. T. Onions. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1911.

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  • Cross-references in text-specific dictionaries from this page (10):
    • William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, 1.6
    • William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, 3.2
    • William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, 1.1
    • William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry IV, 3.1
    • William Shakespeare, Henry V, 2.1
    • William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, 1.2
    • William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1.2
    • William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, 4.2
    • William Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.1
    • William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Or what you will, 1.5
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