chierte

See also: chierté

Middle English

Etymology

From Old French cherté. Compare charite.

Noun

chierte (uncountable)

1. tender regard, affection
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Wife of Bath's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 395-396:

     Yet tikled it his herte, for that he
     Wende that I hadde of him so greet chiertee.

     Yet it tickled his heart, for he
     Believed that I had of him so great affection.

   • 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum Octauum”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book XIII, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC, leaf 311, recto; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC, page 621:

     Whanne the Quene ladyes & 20 gentilwymmen wyſt theſe tydynges / they had ſuche ſorowe & heuyneſſe that ther myght no tonge telle hit / for tho knyghtes had hold them in honour and chyerte

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

References

• “chiertẹ̄, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “chierte”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.