cordial, a. and n.
(ˈkɔːdɪəl)
(Also 7 cordale.)
[ad. med.L. cordiāl-is (perh. immed. through F. cordial, 14th c.), f. L. cor, cord- heart + -al1: cf. L. concordiālis, f. concordia. Cordiālis appears to have been in its origin a word of medicine.]
A. adj.
† 1. Of or belonging to the heart. Obs.
cordial spirits (in Mediæval Physiology) = vital spirits, for ‘the Vital Spirit resides in the heart, is dispersed by the arteries, etc.’, and ‘by the labour of y⊇ complexyon of the brayne..is the vital spirite made anymall’ (Salmon 1671).
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 112 Þei [veynes] bryngen liif & dewe norischinge & cordialle spiritis. 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 116/1 Heerwith inungate the Cordiall pit verye fat, and this will allsoe cause appetite. 1603 Florio Montaigne ii. xxxvii. (1632) 426 If it be neither cordiall, nor stomacall. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. iv. (1686) 153 An opinion..which magnifies the condition of the fourth finger of the Left Hand; presuming therein a cordial relation. |
b. Of the heart as the seat of feeling, affection, etc.; internal.
| 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iv. §39. 382 The verbal is very often quite different from the cordial Creed. |
2. Of medicines, food, or beverages: Stimulating, ‘comforting’, or invigorating the heart; restorative, reviving, cheering.
† cordial water = spirit (obs.).
| 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. ix. in Ashm. (1652) 175 Fode to Man and Woman most eordyall. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 94 a, Al thinges whiche be cordiall, that is to say, which do in any wise comfort the hart. 1564–78 W. Bullein Dial. agst. Pest. (1888) 55 A cordial ointment against the Pestilence. 1634 Milton Comus 672 This cordial julep here..With spirits of balm and fragrant syrups mixed. 1719 De Foe Crusoe xviii. (1858) 287 He had brought me a case of bottles full of excellent cordial waters. 1797 Coleridge Christabel 1, O weary lady, Geraldine, I pray you, drink this cordial wine! 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 215 Juniper berries are diuretic and cordial. |
b. fig.
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. v. iii. 77 This Affliction ha's a taste as sweet As any Cordiall comfort. 1655 Fuller Hist. Camb. (1840) 189 He bestowed on them cordial statutes, (as I may call them,) for the preserving of the College in good health. 1754 Richardson Grandison (1781) I. xxviii. 204 All Sunday..was a cordial day to her from morning to night. |
3. Hearty; coming from the heart, heartfelt; sincere, genuine, warm; warm and hearty in a course of action or in behalf of a cause.
| c 1477 Caxton Jason 128 My only cordyall loue and frende. c 1489 ― Blanchardyn xlix. 190 Enflamed wyth yre & of cordyal wrath, for loue of their lord. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon clxxix. 721 My dere and cordyall frende. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 178 He was a stout and valiant gentleman, a cordial protestant. c 1750 Shenstone Elegies xiii. 7 Soon may thy breast the cordial wish resume. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. II. 183 To induce the emperor to give the cause his cordial support. 1870 R. W. Dale Week-day Serm. x. 184 A cordial abhorrence of what is sensual. |
b. Warm and friendly in manner.
| 1795 Southey Joan of Arc iii. 276 By the gentle Queen With cordial affability received. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. 157 The latter took a cordial leave of his host. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt (1868) 58 ‘Right’, said the minister, in a deep cordial tone. |
¶ 4. quasi-adv. = ‘By heart’. Obs.
| c 1475 Partenay Prol. 10, I not aqueynted of birth naturall With frenshe his verray trew parfightnesse, Nor enpreyntyd is in mynde cordiall. |
B. n.
1. A medicine, food, or beverage which invigorates the heart and stimulates the circulation; a comforting or exhilarating drink. Comm. Aromatized and sweetened spirit, used as a beverage.
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 443 For gold in Phisik is a cordial [v.r. cardial, cordeal, accordial], Therfore he louede gold in special. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 171 As pocyons, laxes, cordialles, plasters, and other medicynes. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. v. 50 Costly Cordialles she did apply. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 250 Aquavitæ distilled out of Wine..the chief cordial in cheering the heart of man. 1727 Swift Gulliver ii. viii. 168 Observing I was ready to faint, [he] gave me a cordial to comfort me. 1833 H. Martineau Tale of Tyne vi. 100 He..sipped his evening cordial. 1847 De Quincey Sp. Mil. Nun v, The closet which held the peppermint-water and other cordials. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1479 Earl Rivers (title) The book named Cordyal which treteth of the four last and final thinges. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, ii. i. 41 A pleasing Cordiall..Is this thy Vow vnto my sickely heart. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iii. ii. 155 Harmlesse mirth is the best cordiall against the consumption of the spirits. 1751 N. Cotton Visions in Verse (R.), Reflections on a life well past Shall prove a cordial to the last. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit., Clubs Wks. (Bohn) III. 92 Of all the cordials known to us, the best, safest, and most exhilarating..is society. |
2. Comb., as cordial-bottle, cordial-glass; cordial-maker, manufacturer, ‘a manufacturer of liqueurs, syrups, and sweet drinks’ (Simmonds Dict. Trade 1858).
| 1663 Cowley Cutter Colman St. ii. viii, Fetch me the Cordial-glass in the Cabinet Window. 1800 M. Edgeworth Lottery i, She thought herself obliged, every quarter of an hour, to have recourse to her cordial-bottle. |