heart of grace

/ˌhɑːt‿əv ˈɡɹeɪs/US/ˌhɑɹt‿əv ˈɡɹeɪs/

heart of grace noun: chiefly preceded by get, give, take, etc.: courage or relief, especially when gained as a result of favour shown to one.

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.
- Therfore whan the Phariſeis ſavve them [the Sadducees] put to ſylence, and rebuked alſo for ignoraũce of ſcripture, they taking harte of grace againe, gather together, and ſet forwarde a certayne doctour of lawe, whiche ſhould got vnto Jeſus with a clerkly queſtion, that eyther he myght reproue hym...1549 February 10 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1548), Erasmus, “The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Gospell of Saincte Matthew. The .xxii. Chapter.”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall]...
- Riſe therfore Euphues, & take heart at graſſe, younger yͧ [thou] ſhalt neuer be: plucke vp thy ſtomacke, if loue it ſelfe haue ſtoung thée it ſhal not ſtifle thée.[[1578], Iohn Lylly [i.e., John Lyly], “Euphues”, in Euphues. The Anatomy of Wyt. […], London: […] [Thomas East] for Gabriell Cawood, […], →OCLC, folio 17, verso

Examples of heart of grace in a sentence

And hearing that Argeo vvas avvay, / And vvould continue ſo no little ſpace, / He came vvithin the caſtle vvall to day, / (His abſence gaue him ſo much heart of grace) […]1591, [Ludovico Ariosto], “The XXI. Booke”, in Iohn Haringtõ [i.e., John Harington], transl., Orlando Furioso in English Heroical Verse...
John had got an Impreſſion that Levvis vvas ſo deadly a cunning Man, that he vvas afraid to venture himſelf alone vvith him: At laſt he took heart of Grace.1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], “How Lewis Baboon Came to Visit John Bull, and what Pass’d between Them”, in Lewis...
But looking round me, and seeing none hurt but John Squallit, […] I took heart of grace, and shot in my turn with good will and good aim.1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter VI, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume III...
In a day of two, however, he began to take heart of grace, and to find himself oftener at Mary's side, with something to say, and more to look.1859–1861, [Thomas Hughes], “Μηδὲν ἄγαν”, in Tom Brown at Oxford: […], part 2nd, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1861, →OCLC...

Origin of heart of grace

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”).

Words that rhyme with heart of grace

45 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about heart of grace

What does heart of grace mean?: Heart of grace means chiefly preceded by get, give, take, etc.: courage or relief, especially when gained as a result of favour shown to one.
How do you use heart of grace in a sentence?: And hearing that Argeo vvas avvay, / And vvould continue ſo no little ſpace, / He came vvithin the caſtle vvall to day, / (His abſence gaue him ſo much heart of grace) […]
What part of speech is heart of grace?: Heart of grace is a noun.
How do you pronounce heart of grace?: Heart of grace is pronounced /ˌhɑːt‿əv ˈɡɹeɪs/ (UK).

Words near heart of grace in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: heart of grace (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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