сердце
serdtse
/ˈsʲertsə/
Definition
The heart — the organ in your chest that pumps blood, or the center of your feelings and emotions.
Example
Её сердце билось быстро от радости.
Show translation
Her heart was beating fast with joy.
Etymology
From Old Church Slavonic *сьрдьце (sĭrdĭce)*, ultimately from Proto-Slavic *sьrdьce*, cognate with Latin *cor* (genitive *cordis*) and English *heart* — all tracing back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr*, meaning heart. The silent -д- in modern pronunciation is preserved in spelling as a historical artifact.
Cultural note
In Russian culture, сердце carries enormous emotional weight beyond its literal meaning. It appears in countless idioms: *от всего сердца* ("from the bottom of one's heart"), *принять близко к сердцу* ("to take to heart"), and *сердце кровью обливается* (lit. "the heart bleeds") for deep sorrow. Russian literature — from Pushkin to Tolstoy — frequently uses сердце as the seat of the soul, often more so than the mind (ум).