Herz

See also: herz and hèrz

Bavarian

Etymology

From Middle High German herze, from Old High German herza. Cognate with German Herz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /heɐ̯t͡s/

Noun

Herz n (plural Herzen or Herzn)

1. heart
2. (card games) hearts

Inflection

• Dat.Sg.: Herzen or Herz

Czech

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɦɛrs]

Proper noun

Herz m anim (female equivalent Herzová)

1. a male surname

Declension

Declension of Herz (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	Herz	Herzové
genitive	Herza	Herzů
dative	Herzovi	Herzům
accusative	Herza	Herzy
vocative	Herze	Herzové
locative	Herzovi	Herzech
instrumental	Herzem	Herzy

German

Alternative forms

• Herze, Hertz (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German herze, from Old High German herza, from Proto-West Germanic *hertā, from Proto-Germanic *hertô (“heart”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr (“heart”).

Cognate with Dutch hart, English heart, Danish hjerte, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉 (hairtō).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɛrts/, [hɛʁt͡s], [hɛɐ̯t͡s]

• Audio (Germany):

  (file)

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Homophone: Hertz

Noun

Herz n (weak, genitive Herzens or (very rare) Herzes, plural Herzen, diminutive Herzchen n or Herzlein n or ((also) Ruhrpöttisch) Herzken n)

1. heart
2. (card games) hearts
3. sweetheart, darling

Usage notes

• Herz has irregular singular declension and is the only noun of its kind.

• The genitive singular takes the ending -ens: des Herzens. The form des Herzes is less common and only used in medicine.
• The dative singular traditionally takes -en: dem Herzen. This form is still the only accepted standard form in many—more or less fixed—expressions, such as im Herzen, von Herzen, zu Herzen, Operation am offenen Herzen (“open-heart surgery”), mit halbem Herzen (“half-heartedly”), and others.

Only the bare form dem Herz is common when referring to a card suit, as a term of endearment, and in the phrase mit Herz (“good-hearted”).

Otherwise, the forms dem Herzen and dem Herz are both acceptable. The latter is predominant in speech, while the former remains the more established form in writing.

Declension

Declension of Herz [neuter, weak]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Herz	die	Herzen
genitive	eines	des	Herzens, Herzes1	der	Herzen
dative	einem	dem	Herzen, Herz2	den	Herzen
accusative	ein	das	Herz	die	Herzen

¹Rare.
²As a card suit or term of endearment, otherwise informal.

Derived terms

• Athletenherz
• beherzt
• Bruderherz
• Hand aufs Herz
• Herz-Jesu-Bild
• herzallerliebst
• herzbewegend
• Herzblatt
• Herzblut
• Herzbube
• Herzchen
• Herzchirurgie
• Herzdame
• herzhaft
• herzig
• Herzinfarkt m (“heart attack”)
• Herzinsuffizienz
• Herzkammer
• Herzklabaster
• Herzklaps
• Herzkönig
• Herzkrankheit
• herzlich
• herzlos
• Herzrhythmusstörung
• Herzschild
• Herzschlag
• Herzstillstand
• Herzton
• Herzversagen
• jemandem am Herzen liegen
• kaltherzig
• Schwesterherz
• Sportherz
• Sportlerherz
• von ganzem Herzen (“wholeheartedly”)
• zu Herzen nehmen (“to take to heart”)

Descendants

• → Macedonian: херц m (herc)
• → Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic script: хе̏рц m

  Latin script: hȅrc m

See also

• Kardia

Further reading

• “Herz” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Herz” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Herz” in Duden online
• “Herz” in OpenThesaurus.de
• Herz on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

• Hetz

Etymology

From Central Franconian Hätz, from Middle High German herze, from Old High German herza.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɛt͡s/

Noun

Herz n (plural Herze, diminutive Herzje)

1. heart

   Mein Herz dud weh.

   My heart hurts.

Further reading

• Piter Kehoma Boll (2021) “Herz”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português (in Portuguese), 3rd edition, Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch, page 75