α. see heart n. and spoon n.
β. 1600s hearts spoone.
heartspoonn.
/ˈhɑːtspuːn/, U.S. /ˈhɑrtˌspun/ Now historical and rare.
The slight hollow overlying the lower end of the breastbone; also called spoon of the brisket. Also (English regional): the navel or midriff. Cf. pit of the stomach n. at pit n.1 14b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > breastbone > [noun] > parts of
heartspoonc1405
spoon of the brisket1575
manubrium1705
xiphisternal1835
episternum1840
mesosternal1854
mesosternum1868
presternum1868
xiphisternum1872
sternebra1881
mesosterneber1890
mesosternebra1890
sternite1916
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1748 He feeleth thurgh the herte spoon the prykke.
1586 T. Bright Treat. Melancholie xxvii. 161 Then shake they [sc. sobs] the hart and midriffe too much, and cause a sorenesse about those partes, especially about the hart spoone.
1600 J. Weever Faunus & Melliflora sig. E2 Vse thy hugging and thy kissing charmes: And in thy hearts spoone coll me least I perish, As twixt thy breasts my frozen bloud ile cherish.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια xiii. xxv. 983 Heere also we must obserue that cauitie which the Ancients called καρδία, commonly the Heart-spoone.
a1728 W. Kennett Etym. Angl. (Lands. MS 1033) lf. 174/2 Ha's varra seek, it warks at his heart-speaun.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. viii. 213 I will whet my dagger on his heart-spone, that refuses to pledge me!
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Heart-spoon, the pit of the stomach.
1857 T. Wright Dict. Obsolete & Provinc. Eng. Heart-spoon, the navel. Yorksh.
1928 J. Masefield Midsummer Night 137 He wrencht the shaft..And stabbed him through the heartspoon with the tine.
2000 P. West Dry Danube 33 The beribboned and bemedalled chest, the heartspoon hidden by a huge gong.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1405