courage (English)

Where does "courage" come from?

The English noun courage comes through Middle English 'corage' and Old French 'corage' from the Vulgar Latin formation '*corāticum'[1]. This Vulgar Latin term is built from the Latin word 'cor', meaning 'heart'[1], which traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*ḱerd-'[1]. Along its history, the word displaced the older Middle English term 'elne' and Old English 'ellen', which had meant 'courage, valor'[1].

Open questions

The intermediate Vulgar Latin form '*corāticum' is a reconstructed word. [1] [5]

Full etymology tree

courage (English), 'The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate.'
- borrowed corage (Middle English), 'courage'
  - borrowed corage (Old French), 'courage'
    - inherited *coraticum (Latin), 'heart, guts'
      - derived *corem (Latin), 'accusative singular of coris'
        derived cor (Latin), 'heart'
        inherited *kord (Proto-Italic), 'heart'
        inherited *ḱḗr (Proto-Indo-European), 'heart'
      - suffix -aticum (Latin), 'Used to form nouns indicating pertinence to the root verb or noun.'

Ancestors

*ḱerd- (Proto-Indo-European)
corage (Middle English)
corage (Old French)
cor (Latin)
elne (Middle English)
ellen (Old English)

Cognates and doublets

courage (French)

Descendants and derived words

courageless (English)
courage of one's convictions (English)
courageous (English)
digital courage (English)
discourage (English)
discourage (English)
Dutch courage (English)
encourage (English)
gather up one's courage (English)
liquid courage (English)
pluck up one's courage (English)
screw up one's courage (English)

Sources

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris