heart of grace

== English == === Etymology === Uncertain, possibly related to take heart (“to be courageous; to regain one’s courage”). It is unclear whether the original term was heart of grace, or perhaps hart of grace, heart of grease or hart of grease (“hart of the season when fat”), or hart (heart) of grass (perhaps alluding to a horse taking heart when finding grass), and of is sometimes replaced by at. Later uses have been influenced by grace (“free and undeserved favour”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌhɑːt‿əv ˈɡɹeɪs/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˌhɑɹt‿əv ˈɡɹeɪs/ Rhymes: -eɪs === Noun === heart of grace (uncountable) (archaic) Chiefly preceded by get, give, take, etc.: courage or relief, especially when gained as a result of favour shown to one. ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === George Latimer Apperson (1993), “To take heart of grace”, in The Wordsworth Dictionary of Proverbs, Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, published 2006, →ISBN, page 274, column 2.