English
cheer
Cheer comes from Old French chiere ‘head, face’, and goes back to Late Latin cara.
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcara‘head’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400chiere‘head, face’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400chere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chere‘state of mind as indicated by facial expression’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485cheer
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcara‘head’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400chiere‘head, face’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400chere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chere‘state of mind as indicated by facial expression’
- Englishearliest quotation 1485cheer
Earliest quotation: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, viij: “And soo on the morne they were alle accorded…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- ‘top, head, horn’
horn, hart, grail, cerebral, migraine, crater, corny, cornea, cairn, cornet, procrastinate, cranium, cerebellum, keratin, cerebrum, rother, 52 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂-(e)s-n-
Today it means
noun A cheerful attitude; happiness; a good, happy, or positive mood.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Late Latin cara / cheer