courage

English Online Dictionary. What means courage‎? What does courage mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English corage, from Old French corage (French courage), from Vulgar Latin *corāticum, from Latin cor (“heart”). Distantly related to cardiac (“of the heart”), which is from Greek, but from the same Proto-Indo-European root. Displaced Middle English elne, ellen, from Old English ellen (“courage, valor”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌɹ.ɪdʒ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/, /ˈkɝ.ɪd͡ʒ/

Noun

courage (usually uncountable, plural courages)

1. The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate.

2. The ability to overcome one's fear, do or live things which one finds frightening.
3. The ability to maintain one's will or intent despite either the experience of fear, frailty, or frustration; or the occurrence of adversity, difficulty, defeat or reversal. Moral fortitude.
   • 2008, Maya Angelou, address for the 2008 Cornell University commencement

     Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:courage

Derived terms

Related terms

• cardiac

Translations

Verb

courage (third-person singular simple present courages, present participle couraging, simple past and past participle couraged)

1. (obsolete) To encourage. [15th–17th c.]

See also

• fearlessness
• bield

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French corage, from Old French corage, from Vulgar Latin *corāticum, from Latin cor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku.ʁaʒ/
• Rhymes: -aʒ

Noun

courage m (plural courages)

1. courage

   Synonym: bravoure

   Le courage est à mi-chemin entre la lâcheté et la témérité. ― Courage is the median between cowardice and foolhardiness.

Derived terms

• bon courage
• courageux
  • courageusement
• décourager
  • décourageant
  • découragement
• encourager
  • encourageant
  • encouragement
• prendre son courage à deux mains

Descendants

• → Bulgarian: кураж (kuraž)
• → Macedonian: кураж (kuraž)
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: korjøsk, korjørsk
• → Romanian: curaj
• → Russian: кураж (kuraž)

Interjection

courage !

1. chin up! keep going! take heart!

Usage notes

"bon courage !" has a slightly different meaning: "good luck!".

References

Further reading

• “courage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.