heartwhole

See also: heart-whole

English

Alternative forms

• heart-whole

Etymology

From heart +‎ whole.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑːthəʊl/

Adjective

heartwhole (comparative more heartwhole, superlative most heartwhole)

1. (now rare) Undismayed, not abashed or frightened; healthy. [from 15th c.]
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xxxiiij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book IX:

     #*:Nay nay saide sire Tristram / Dynadan / neuer drede the / for I am herte hole / & of this wounde I shal soone be hole by the mercy of god […] .

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. Not in love; romantically unattached. [from 17th c.]
   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

     [T]he subject of love being artfully introduced by the widow, who had been directed to sound his inclinations, he rallied the passion with great ease and severity, and made no scruple of declaring himself heart-whole.

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 27:

     She remained with her comrades till dusk, and participated with a certain zest in the dancing; though, being heart-whole as yet, she enjoyed treading a measure purely for its own sake; little divining when she saw "the soft torments, the bitter sweets, the pleasing pains, and the agreeable distresses" of those girls who had been wooed and won, what she herself was capable of in that kind.

3. Wholehearted, sincere. [from 17th c.]