hearty, a. (adv.) and n.
(ˈhɑːtɪ)
Forms: see heart n.
[f. heart n. + -y1.]
A. adj. Full of heart.
1. a. Full of courage; courageous, bold (obs.). In later use coloured by senses 4 and 5: Zealous; energetic or thorough in one's support or action.
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 286 Made hem herti to die for þe love of þe treuþe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3813 The hertist to helpe of all the high kynges. Ibid. 8203 Triet men..herty to stryke. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxviii. lix, Dame Minerve..Dyd me endue with harty hardynes. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 2192 Valiaunt Capteynes and hartie Souldiours. 1684 Dryden Epil. to Constantine 23 Such hearty rogues against the king and laws. 1704 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. II. 166 Persons hearty to the English Interest and Government. 1709 Swift Adv. Relig. Wks. 1755 II. i. 119 Declaring himself hearty for the government. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. i. i. (1869) I. 10 When he first begins the new work he is seldom very keen and hearty. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xix. IV. 259 Two of the allied powers, and two only, were hearty in the common cause. |
† b. As an epithet of compliment: ? Great-hearted, magnanimous, noble. Obs. (But perh. = prec. ‘bold, courageous’.)
| 1552 Latimer Wks. (1844) I. 356 Esay, that hearty prophet, confirmeth the same. Ibid. 515 Judas Machabeus, that hearty captain. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. vi. 312 Thay namet him a hartie horsman [L. generosi equitis] or a noble rydar. |
† 2. Possessed of understanding; wise, prudent, sagacious. Obs. rare.
| 1382 Wyclif Deut. i. 13 Ȝyue ȝe of ȝow wise men and herti [Vulg. gnaros]. ― Job xxxiv. 10 Therfore, herty [Vulg. cordati] men, hereth me. |
3. a. Full of kindly sentiment or goodwill; exhibiting warmth of affection or friendly feeling; cordial, kind-hearted, genial, cheery.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 238/1 Herty, cordialis. c 1490 Plumpton Corr. 83 In the most hartyest wyse I recommend me to you. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 757 No one thing..gat him..more hartie favor among the common people. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 269 ¶5 Our Salutations were very hearty on both Sides. 1853 Lytton My Novel v. ii, There was no hearty welcoming smile on his face. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. iii. 30 Madame Christiansen..was hearty and warm-hearted as ever. |
b. Merry, blithe; = heartsome 3. Sc.
| 1768 Ross Helenore 117 (Jam.) Come, deary, gie's a sang, And let's be hearty with the merry thrang. |
4. a. Proceeding from the heart; heartfelt, genuine, sincere.
| 1479 Office Mayor Bristol in Eng. Gilds 415, I shal aske theym forgevnes in as herty wyse as I can. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 245 b, With herty thankes. 1546 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. iii. 129 Att the hartye desyer of the hole court. 1601 Bp. W. Barlow Serm. Paules Crosse 36 His repentance was so harty, that [etc.]. 1771 Junius Lett. lv. 292 He is a true and hearty christian. 1875 T. W. Higginson Hist. U.S. xxiv. 239 Jefferson had a very hearty faith in it. |
b. Existing in the heart; belonging to the inner feelings. rare.
| 1550 J. Coke Eng. & Fr. Heralds i. (1877) 55 Perceyvyng..the sayde boke to be compyled of harty malyce. 1674 Brevint Saul at Endor 124 Tho they keep still their hearty thoughts, they do quite reform their Language; they are ashamed to say in England, what they are proud to do at Rome. 1880 G. Meredith Trag. Com. (1881) 60 His inmost hearty devil was glad of a combat. |
5. Giving unrestrained expression to the feelings; vehement, vigorous.
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Cambridge (1840) I. 318 Such hearty laughters and other passionate gestures. 1727 Swift Gulliver ii. iii, After an hearty fit of laughter. 1823 Scott Peveril xx, The captain bestowed a hearty curse. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge xxxviii, Mr. Dennis gave him a hearty slap on the back. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. ii. 48 Who provoked Fielding to a coarse hearty burst of ridicule. |
† 6. Of disease: Violent, severe. Obs.
| a 1639 Spottiswood Hist. Ch. Scotl. vi. (1677) 411 The Chancellor..contracted a hearty sickness. |
7. In sound health, having good appetite and spirits; vigorous, hale. Also euphem. tipsy (Sc.).
| 1552 Huloet, Hartye not beynge sycke, sanus, valens in corpore. 1662 R. Mathew Unl. Alch. §22. 13 He was hearty and eat his meat. 1727 Philip Quarll (1816) 41 He awoke in the morning refreshed and hearty. 1818 Edin. Even. Courier 8 Oct. (Jam.), The pannel was hearty, but knew what he was about, and could walk very well. 1828 Craven Dial. s.v. Hearty, Shoe's feaful hearty to her meat. 1844 W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scotl. xxxiii. (1855) 266 His honour was riding home hearty. 1858 Longfellow M. Standish v. 73 Square built, hearty, and strong, with an odour of ocean about him. |
8. Of food or drink: Yielding good nourishment; strengthening, invigorating.
| 1617 Markham Caval. vi. 17 This foode is verie hartie. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. i. xi. (1869) I. 171 Bread of oat⁓meal is a heartier food for labouring people than wheaten bread. 1796 H. Glasse Cookery xv. 265 It is a very hearty drink. 1871 G. H. Napheys Prev. & Cure Dis. i. ii. 58 Mutton and lamb have the reputation of being less hearty..than beef. |
9. Of a meal or portion of food or drink: Satisfying to the appetite; abundant, ample, full.
| 1593 Bacchus Bountie in Harl. Misc. (1809) II. 308 They applied themselves to the harty carouse. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. iii. 48 Ech drunk an harty draught. 1653 Walton Compl. Angler 73 So here's to you a hearty draught. 1721 Ramsay To a friend at Florence, Of all those dainties take a hearty meal. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. 124 In a hearty and prolonged repast. |
10. Of soil, land, etc.: In good heart, well fitted to bear crops.
| 1573 Tusser Husb. xix. (1878) 49 Thistles so growing..signifieth land to be hartie and strong. 1719 London & Wise Compl. Gard. 314 Stronger and more hearty Lands. 1871 W. H. Beever Daily Life Farm Sept. 182 There was plenty of wet hearty muck put underneath. |
11. Of timber: Consisting of heart-wood; strong, durable.
| 1624 Wotton Archit. i, Oake and the like true hartie timber. 1776 G. Semple Building in Water 115 Hearty and sound red Fir. 1884 West. Morn. News 30 Aug. 1/5 The oak is..clean, and very hearty. |
12. Comb., as hearty-hale, hearty-mild.
| 1591 Spenser Muiop. 198 Sound Savorie, and Bazil hartie⁓hale. 1592 Sylvester Tri. Faith i. xv, Repentance, Hope, and hearty-milde Humility. |
B. adv. or quasi-adv. = heartily.
| 1753 Foote Eng. in Paris Prol., At your tragedy sure they laugh'd hearty enough. a 1863 Thackeray Fatal Boots viii, I don't think I ever..ate more hearty. |
C. n.
1. The adj. used absol.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 10053 Hard was the hurtelyng tho herty betwene. |
2. A hearty fellow; a brave, vigorous man; esp. in phr. my hearty! my hearties! used in addressing sailors. Hence, a sailor, a jack-tar.
| 1839 Marryat Phant. Ship xli, You might..have let me had a side-rope, my hearties. 1841 Lever C. O'Malley xxxvi, Monsoon, my hearty, how goes it? 1890 W. C. Russell My Shipmate Louise II. xvi. 38 The lively hearty in the bows hooked-on. |
3. At some English universities, used to denote an extrovert who enters heartily into college life and sports; an athletic (as distinguished from an æsthetic) man. Also in more general use (see quot. 1955).
| 1925 Weekly Dispatch 22 Nov. 9/2 The leaders in the sport [‘debagging’] are a band of ‘hearties’ who hail mostly from Magdalen and ‘The House’. 1928 in L. MacNeice Strings are False (1965) 274 Capell was knocked down in the Broad the other day by a hearty. 1930 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 July 610/4 At English universities undergraduates classify themselves into the mutually exclusive categories of ‘aesthetes’ and ‘hearties’. 1934 C. Lambert Music Ho! iii. 216 The sheer anger aroused in ‘hearties’ of the Beachcomber order by such different manifestations of contemporary depression as jazz songs and the poetry of Eliot. 1955 Times 12 May 11/4 A hearty has come to mean an oppressively cheerful, muscular and back-slapping personage who is prostrating company. 1959 News Chron. 19 Aug. 4/3 There is no trace of the horse-play hearty in his make-up. 1964 C. Mackenzie My Life & Times III. iv. 130 To go back to the noise in Trinity quad on that Saturday evening in 1903. ‘Oh, these hearties!’ I said... From that moment, at first as a term for Trinity men and later more generally, ‘hearties’ became current. |