Sad, discouraged, or lacking hope about something; feeling a loss of courage or optimism.
Compound of 'down' and 'hearted' (from Old English 'heorte', meaning heart). The phrase 'down-hearted' originally meant literally having one's heart low or heavy, then evolved to mean emotionally discouraged around the 1600s.
Medieval people believed emotions literally lived in organs—sadness was a 'heavy heart,' courage was 'lion-hearted,' and love made your heart 'flutter,' and these ancient beliefs shaped words we still use today!
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