cordialn.adj.adv.
/ˈkɔːdɪəl/, U.S. /ˈkɔrdʒəl/ A. n.
1.
a. A food or (esp. alcoholic) drink with medicinal or health-giving properties, esp. one that is thought to invigorate the heart, stimulate the circulation, or provide comfort (now historical). Also (North American) a liqueur.A transition from this sense to sense A. 1b seems to have occurred at some point between the 19th and 20th centuries, but it is difficult to determine a precise date. Products such as lime juice cordial that were originally sold for their health benefits (see quot. 1867) later came to be regarded merely as a soft drink, while fruit drinks without medicinal claims that were promoted by the temperance movement of the 19th cent. were perhaps designated cordials as a being a healthier alternative to alcohol (see quot. 1853).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > qualities of food > [noun] > nourishing food
milkeOE
marrowa1382
cordialc1405
nutritivec1475
nutrient1828
flesh-former1873
macromineral1966
macronutrient1968
phytonutrient1994
the world > food and drink > drink > types or qualities of beverage > [noun] > exhilarating drink
cordialc1405
cheerer1790
quaffer1942
warmer-upper1960
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > cordial > [noun]
cordialc1405
shrub1743
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > preparations for treating specific parts > [noun] > for the heart
cordialc1405
cardiac1655
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > restoratives, tonics, or stimulants > [noun] > cordial
cordialc1405
cardiac1655
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 445 For gold in Physik. is a Cordial [c1415 Corpus Oxf. is accordial, c1425 Petworth is a cordeal, c1430 Cambr. Gg.4.27 is a cardial] Ther fore he louede gold in special.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. MMMii As pocions, laxes, cordialles, plasters and other medicines.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. v. sig. Gg7v Costly Cordialles she did apply.
1639 J. Woodall Surgeons Mate (rev. ed.) 250 Aquavitæ distilled out of Wine..the chiefe cordiall in cheering the heart of man.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. viii. 150 Observing I was ready to faint, [he] gave me a Cordial to comfort me.
1828 P. S. Townsend Diary 2 Mar. in Jrnl. Hist. Med. (1951) 6 97 Left Dr. B's about 9, the dinner being concluded with coffee, Frontignac and a glass of excellent rum taken as a cordial.
1853 G. A. Sala in Househ. Words 7 May 240/1 A harmless compound, or temperance cordial called raspberry.
1867 Glasgow Herald 23 Nov. 1/6 (advt.) Prepared West India lime juice and cordial. Imported from Jamaica, and strongly recommended as an excellent Beverage, as well as possessing very valuable Medicinal properties.
1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber vi. 196 Syrups and wines and cordials made from the ripe fruit [of the papaw] are expectorant.
1952 Washington Post 9 Oct. 34/3 (advt.) Eagle Brings to you from Germany the finest and most famous of all cordials..Noisette chocolate liqueur, 60 Proof.
2014 R. Foley Bartending For Dummies (ed. 5) vi. 57 Cointreau is a clear cordial made from a blend of sweet and bitter oranges.
b. Esp. British. A sweet fruit-flavoured non-alcoholic drink, typically one in the form of a syrup for dilution.Some 19th-century quotations at sense A. 1a illustrate cordial as a designation for products which would later be given this description, but which at the time were regarded or promoted as having health benefits: see note there.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > fruit juice or squash > [noun]
cordial1861
squash1894
crush1919
1861 Dundee Courier & Daily Argus 16 Dec. (advt.) Ginger, Raspberry, Grape, and Fruit Cordials.
1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xvi. 167 Do you think you would intoxicate her on purpose? I thought it was only raspberry cordial.
1957 G. Thomas in A. Richards Penguin Bk. Welsh Short Stories (1976) 133 Then he took us to a café and treated us to a meal that took us an hour to eat, spam, chips, ten sorts of cakes and four sorts of cordial as well as tea.
1997 Independent on Sunday 22 June i. 12/3 Pickers have been paid £1 a pound for the flowers in one of the biggest harvests of elder for several years and most of it is being turned into non-alcoholic pressé and cordial.
2. In extended use: anything that provides comfort or stimulation. Now rare.
ΚΠ
c1450 in Mod. Philol. (1924) 21 395 (MED) Lytyll erys, lytill mouthe, the fete praty with all, A lover on to thenke hyt is a cordyall.
1479 Earl Rivers tr. Cordyal (Caxton) Prol. This book named Cordyal whiche treteth of the four last and final thinges.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III ii. i. 41 A pleasing cordiall..Is this thy vow vnto my sickly heart. View more context for this quotation
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iii. ii. 155 Harmlesse mirth is the best cordiall against the consumption of the spirits.
1752 N. Cotton Visions in Verse (ed. 3) 129 Reflections on a Life well past Shall prove a Cordial to the last.
1870 R. W. Emerson Society & Solitude 201 Of all the cordials known to us, the best, safest, and most exhilarating..is society.
2007 Times (Nexis) 12 May 84 The Ascension is the triumph of the victorious love of God in Christ... More than a cordial for drooping spirits, it is indeed that in which we share every time that in worship and adoration we lift our hearts to the Lord.
B. adj.† 2. Of or relating to the heart (in quot. 1841-8 as the seat of feeling, affection, etc.). Obsolete. cordial spirits n. Obsolete (in medieval physiology and medicine) vital spirits (vital spirits at vital adj. 2a) originating in the heart . [Compare post-classical Latin spiritus cordialis (14th cent.).]
1.
a. Of a medicine, food, or drink: thought to strengthen the heart, stimulate the circulation, or provide comfort; restorative, reviving, cheering. Now historical. cordial water n. a medicinal draught; an alcoholic drink.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > restoratives, tonics, or stimulants > [adjective] > restorative
comfortive1377
restaurativea1393
comfortativea1398
resumptivea1398
cordial?a1425
corroborative1583
analeptical1606
corroborant1626
analeptica1629
vivifying1665
roborant1768
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 44v (MED) Electuariez & sirupz cordialez [L. syrupi cordiales].
1541 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe (new ed.) 94 a Al thinges whiche be cordiall, that is to say, which do in any wise comfort the hart.
a1550 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Bodl. e Mus.) f. 59v (MED) That it [sc. bread] maye haue the kindelye taste And become foode to man & woman moste cordiall.
1564 W. Bullein Dialogue against Fever Pestilence f. 39 A cordiall oyntment againste the Pestilence.
1603 J. Florio tr. M. de Montaigne Ess. ii. xxxvii. 436 If it be neyther cordiall, nor stomacall.
1637 J. Milton Comus 23 This cordial julep here..With spirits of balme, and fragrant syrops mixt.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 325 He had brought me a Case of Bottles full of excellent Cordial Waters.
1811 A. T. Thomson London Dispensatory ii. 212 Juniper berries are diuretic and cordial.
1816 S. T. Coleridge Christabel i. 14 O weary lady, Geraldine, I pray you, drink this cordial wine!
1997 Amer. Jrnl. Nephrol. 17 218/2 Cordial remedies were used such as musk, camphor, antidotes and diuretics.
b. In extended use: comforting, cheering, invigorating. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > refreshment or invigoration > [adjective]
cooling?c1425
comfortablec1440
refreshing1534
rousing1576
vegetant1576
reviving1579
refriscative1582
refrigerating1583
cordial1584
airy1591
freshing1591
animating1595
fertile1597
recreating1600
refective1611
refreshfula1614
comforting1623
refrigerant1626
erecting1654
cordialine1674
refocillating1675
corroboratinga1680
refectory1693
invigorating1694
restoring1697
freshful1734
enlivening1746–7
livelya1754
tonic1756
stimulatory1758
vivifying1768
energizing1786
stimulative1791
refreshening1807
vitalizing1813
stimulating1827
recuperative1843
invigorative1860
innerving1868
breezy1870
tonicizing1890
reparatory1893
the mind > emotion > pleasure > state of being consoled or relieved > [adjective] > giving consolation or relief
comfortable1377
comforting1382
easefulc1425
solaciousc1450
unctious1477
consolativea1492
consolatorya1500
comfortful1552
recomfortable1581
cordial1584
relieving1597
comfortizing1600
balmya1616
lenifying1617
consolating?1650
easinga1665
balsamic1667
relief-ful1699
consolinga1704
assuasive1713
solacing1721
soothing1746
consolate1748
reassuring1753
alleviative1770
cheering1796
assuaging1801
sooth1819
paramuthetic1854
soothful1886
1584 T. Lodge Alarum against Vsurers f. 19 Though the corrections I vse be bitter, account of them the better, for why they be more cordiall.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) v. iii. 77 This Affliction ha's a taste as sweet As any Cordiall comfort. View more context for this quotation
1655 T. Fuller Hist. Univ. Cambr. vii. 133 in Church-hist. Brit. He bestowed on them Cordiall statutes (as I may call them) for the preserving of the Colledge in good health.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison I. xxviii. 204 All Sunday..was a cordial day to her from morning till night.
2010 J. H. Ebel Faith in Fight vi. 156 Soldiers were concerned to find ‘beyond the gates’ a world familiar, cordial and comforting to them.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > vascular system > heart > [adjective]
cardiaca1398
cardiala1413
cordial?a1450
cardiacal?1570
heartward1667
cardine1771
cardiorenal1854
cardiorespiratory1857
intracardial1876
cardiopulmonary1879
intracardiac1887
cardiodiaphragmatic1907
heart-lung1908
the world > life > the body > secretory organs > secretion > [noun] > fluid secretion > spirits
spirita1387
cordial spirits?a1450
natural spirit1541
mobile spirit1649
?a1450 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (BL Add. 12056) (1894) 112 Þey [sc. veynes] bryngen lyf & dywe norysschynge & cordyal spirites [a1400 Ashm. cordialle þe spiritis; L. spiritum cordialem], þe whiche is in þe brayn and þere is diffyede, & þere resseyueþ naturel forme of vnderstondynge.
1599 A. M. tr. O. Gaebelkhover Bk. Physicke 116/1 Heerwith inungate the Cordialle pit verye fat, & this will allsoe cause appetite.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iv. iv. 183 An opinion.., which magnifies the condition of the fourth finger of the left hand; presuming therein a cordiall relation.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 1104 A Rib, with cordial spirits warme, And Life-blood streaming fresh.
1841–8 F. Myers Catholic Thoughts II. iv. §39. 382 The verbal is very often quite different from the cordial Creed.
3.
a. Heartfelt, hearty; sincere, genuine; thoroughly committed to a course of action or a cause. In later use sometimes modifying a noun expressing dislike, and serving as an ironic intensifier.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > sincere emotion > [adjective]
heartlya1393
heartful?a1400
cordial1459
hearty?1460
precordiala1539
affectiousc1580
dear1598
cordate1669
heartfelt1712
devout1828
1459 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1855) II. 228 Sir Thomas besechith his said feffeȝ..of the grete cordiall affeccon that he hath in thaym.
1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 172 My only cordyall loue & frende.
1490 Caxton's Blanchardyn & Eglantine (1962) xlix. 190 Enflamed wyth yre & of cordyal wrath, for loue of their lord.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) clxxix. 721 My dere and cordyall frende.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Suff. 65 He was a stout and valiant Gentleman, a cordial Protestant.
c1750 W. Shenstone Elegies xiii. 7 Soon may thy breast the cordial wish resume.
1845 S. Austin tr. L. von Ranke Hist. Reformation in Germany (ed. 2) II. 183 To induce the emperor to give the cause his cordial support.
1870 R. W. Dale Week-day Serm. x. 220 A cordial abhorrence of what is sensual.
1984 T. Horton Bay Country (1987) 71 Never was an opening spring or the coming of the shad looked for with more anxiety or hailed with more cordial delight.
2001 P. P. Read Alice in Exile (2002) iv. v. 353 My wife joins me in sending our cordial regards.
2003 Daily Tel. 8 Oct. 22/2 If there is one theme that has emerged from all three party conferences (cordial loathing of the media apart), it is a fashion for localism and devolved power.
b. Originally: warm and friendly in manner. Now also: outwardly friendly, respectful, or courteous.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [adjective] > warm or friendly in manner
friendlyc1390
heartlyc1390
cordial1577
goodwilly1706
1577 S. Batman Golden Bk. Leaden Goddes f. 17v Amities, Frendshippes, and Cordiall dealinges betweene man and man, being but to the vtter show, & not from a faythfull harte, is then called Hypocrisie.
1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc iii. 276 By the gentle Queen With cordial affability received.
1837 W. Irving Adventures Capt. Bonneville III. 157 The latter took a cordial leave of his host.
1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. v. 116 ‘Right’, said the minister, in a deep cordial tone.
1998 P. Gourevitch We wish to inform You iv. 57 Most Hutus and Tutsis still maintained fairly cordial relations.
2007 J. Kavenna Inglorious 58 In honesty, we were never close friends, you and I. Cordial with each other, part of a bonded group, but there was no particular tie between us.
2021 Baltic Legal Updates (Nexis) 31 May Although they had their differences, their relationship was cordial and business-like.
By heart. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > memorization > [adverb]
on breastOE
bout bookOE
by rotea1325
by hearta1387
without (one's) booka1413
par coeura1425
cordially1479
perqueerc1480
cordiala1500
by the book1556
memoriter1612
memorially1660
from memory1856
a1500 Partenay (Trin. Cambr.) Prol. l. 10 I not aqueynted of birth naturall With fre[n]she his verray trew parfightnesse, Nor enpreyntyd is in mynde cordiall.
Compounds
C1. General use as a modifier (in sense A. 1a or A. 1b), as in cordial-bottle, cordial-glass, cordial shop, etc.
ΚΠ
1663 A. Cowley Cutter of Coleman-St. ii. viii. 23 Fetch me the Cordial-glass in the Cabinet window.
1805 M. Edgeworth Lottery i, in Pop. Tales (ed. 2) II. 23 She..thought herself obliged, every quarter of an hour, to have recourse to her cordial bottle.
1933 S. Walker Night Club Era 213 In the spring of 1933, just before the coming of 3.2% beer, the secret estimate of the New York police placed the figure at 9,000 which included cordial shops and all other places known to sell liquor.
1999 Esquire Dec. 40/4 The taste is mind-blowing, especially when served from the freezer in small cordial glasses.
C2. With agent nouns, forming compounds in which cordial (in sense A. 1a or A. 1b) expresses the object of the underlying verb, as in cordial-maker cordial manufacturer, etc.
ΚΠ
1817 Wilson's Dublin Directory 91 in Treble Almanack Kennedy (Charles) Spirit-dealer and Cordial-maker, 146, Capel-street.
1833 C. Varle Compl. View Baltimore 161 Cordial manufacturers.
2008 Marketing (Nexis) 3 Sept. 28 Squash and cordial manufacturers are tapping into healthy-eating trends.
2014 @wexfordfoodfest 21 May in twitter.com (accessed 8 July 2020) Delighted to also have another fine cordial maker #Aureliafoods join us for #WexfordFoodFest14.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.adj.adv.c1405