courage
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/
(accents without the hurry-furry merger)Audio (US) (file)
(accents with the hurry-furry merger)Audio (US) (file)
Noun
courage (usually uncountable, plural courages)
- The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate.
- 1860, Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life:
- A great part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before.
- 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice:
- There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.
- It takes a lot of courage to be successful in business.
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- The ability to overcome one's fear, do or live things which one finds frightening.
- He plucked up the courage to tell her how he felt.
- 1893, Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson and those Extraordinary Twins, page 115:
- Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear.
- 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.
- 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
- Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
- 1942, C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
- “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.”
- 1960, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird:
- I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.
- 1993, Stanley P. Cornils, The Mourning After: How to Manage Grief Wisely:
- Courage isn't having the strength to go on - it is going on when you don't have strength.
- 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.
- 2008, Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Screenplay:
- I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.
- 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:courage
Derived terms
- courage of one's convictions
- courageous
- digital courage
- discourage
- Dutch courage
- encourage
- liquid courage
- pluck up one's courage
- screw up one's courage
- take courage
- take one's courage in both hands
Related terms
- cardiac
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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Verb
courage (third-person singular simple present courages, present participle couraging, simple past and past participle couraged)
- (obsolete) To encourage. [15th–17th c.]
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter X, in Le Morte Darthur, book XIX:
- And wete yow wel sayd kynge Arthur vnto Vrres syster I shalle begynne to handle hym and serche vnto my power not presumyng vpon me that I am soo worthy to hele youre sone by my dedes / but I wille courage other men of worshyp to doo as I wylle doo
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 1530, William Tyndale, "An Answer unto Sir Thomas More's Dialogue":
- Paul writeth unto Timothy, to instruct him, to teach him, to exhort, to courage him, to stir him up,
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See also
- fearlessness
- bield
French
Etymology
cœur + -age or Middle French corage, from Old French corage, from Vulgar Latin *coraticum, from Latin cor.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ku.ʁaʒ/
audio (file) - Rhymes: -aʒ
Noun
courage m (plural courages)
- courage
- Synonym: bravoure
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)
- → Romanian: curaj
- → Russian: кураж (kuraž)
Interjection
courage !
- chin up! keep going! take heart!
Usage notes
"bon courage !" has a slightly different meaning: "good luck!".
Further reading
- “courage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.