Dictionary / courage
courage
- noun
- verb
- from Old French
The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate.
1 All current definitions
Every sense of “courage” in current use, as recorded by Wiktionary. Older and obsolete senses are kept separately.
noun
- uncountableusuallyThe quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate.
It takes a lot of courage to be successful in business.
- uncountableusuallyThe ability to overcome one's fear, do or live things which one finds frightening.
He plucked up the courage to tell her how he felt.
- uncountableusuallyThe ability to maintain one's will or intent despite either the experience of fear, frailty, or frustration; or the occurrence of adversity, difficulty, defeat or reversal; moral fortitude.
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.”1942, C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters:
verb
No current senses for this part of speech — see older senses.
Older & obsolete senses (1)
- obsoleteTo encourage.
Cross-check: WordNet senses (1)
- nouna quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear — also: courageousness, bravery, braveness
Synonyms: audacity, balls, bield, boldhead, boldness, bravehood, valor, braveness, bravery, courage, courageousness, daring
Antonyms: cowardice
2 History of the word
The etymology, the path the word travelled, and the words built from it.
The word’s journey, newest to oldest:
- English (today)courage
- Middle Englishcorage
- Old Frenchcorage (French courage)
- Vulgar Latin*corāticum
- Latincor “heart”
From Middle English corage, from Old French corage (French courage), from Vulgar Latin *corāticum, from Latin cor (“heart”). Distantly related to cardiac (“of the heart”), which is from Greek, but from the same Proto-Indo-European root. Displaced Middle English elne, ellen, from Old English ellen (“courage, valor”).
Derivatives — words built from “courage”
Phrases & compounds
Related terms
Want to go deeper? See also “courage” on Etymonline ↗
3 Original language
Where “courage” came from before it was English.
4 Original meaning
What the word meant at the oldest point the record reaches.
Historical meaning — Webster’s 1913
A historical record, labelled as such: some of these senses are dated or have since shifted.
courage n. [OE. corage heart, mind, will, courage, OF. corage, F. courage, fr. a LL. derivative of L. cor heart. See Heart.]
- The heart; spirit; temper; disposition.
- Heart; inclination; desire; will.
- That quality of mind which enables one to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, or without fear, or fainting of heart; valor; boldness; resolution.
courage v. t.
- To inspire with courage; to encourage.
5 Use it with confidence
Model sentences from the sources, matched to the meaning they show. Read each one aloud, then make your own in the game.
nounMeaning: The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate.
It takes a lot of courage to be successful in business.
A great part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before.1860, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay IV. Culture.”, in The Conduct of Life, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 120:
nounMeaning: The ability to overcome one's fear, do or live things which one finds frightening.
He plucked up the courage to tell her how he felt.
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.1897, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “[Pudd’nhead Wilson] Chapter XII”, in The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson: And the Comedy Those Extraordinary Twins, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company, →OCL
nounMeaning: The ability to maintain one's will or intent despite either the experience of fear, frailty, or frustration; or the occurrence of adversity, difficulty, defeat or reversal; moral fortitude.
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.”1942, C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters:
I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:
Three steps to owning it
- Pick one meaning above and read its model sentence out loud.
- Say who or what the word is about in your own life, then build a sentence around that.
- Check it against the definition: would a careful reader understand exactly that meaning?
6 The mastery game
Play it here, or print it and do it with pen and paper. At the end you will know the meanings, history, origin and original meaning — and you will have used the word yourself.
Say it, then spell it
courage
/ˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/
Say the word out loud three times, slowly. Notice the stressed syllable. When you are ready, hide it and spell it from memory.
Activate Words · Word-mastery worksheet · Name: ______________________ Date: __________
courage
/ˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ · noun, verb
Step 1 — Say it and write it
Say “courage” out loud three times. Then cover the word and write it three times from memory.
Step 2 — Know every meaning
Read each definition. Then write it again in your own words.
Step 3 — Which meaning is it?
“It takes a lot of courage to be successful in business.”
Circle the meaning used.
“He plucked up the courage to tell her how he felt.”
Circle the meaning used.
Step 4 — History and origin
Write the word’s journey back in time (each language and form):
Write three words built from “courage” and what each means:
Step 5 — Original meaning
The earliest traceable form is Latin cor. What did it mean?
How does that original meaning connect to the meanings today?
Step 6 — Use it yourself
☐ I can explain its meanings ☐ I know its history ☐ I know its original language ☐ I know its original meaning ☐ I can use it confidently
Answer key — courage
Which meaning, sentence 1: A. The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate.
Which meaning, sentence 2: C. The ability to overcome one's fear, do or live things which one finds frightening.
Origin: A. Old French (Old French corage)
Journey: English courage ← Middle English corage ← Old French corage ← Vulgar Latin *corāticum ← Latin cor
Some derivatives: courageless, courageous, discourage, encourage
Original meaning: Latin cor — “heart”
Etymology: From Middle English corage, from Old French corage (French courage), from Vulgar Latin *corāticum, from Latin cor (“heart”). Distantly related to cardiac (“of the heart”), which is from Greek, but from the same Proto-Indo-European root. Displaced Middle English elne, ellen, from Old English ellen (“courage, valor”).
Sources: Wiktionary “courage” (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/courage#English), CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org; Princeton WordNet 3.0; Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913, public domain) via GCIDE. Worksheet from https://activatewords.com/w/courage