Core
UK /kɔː/ · US /kɔɹ/ proper noun, noun, adjective, verb
Also a form of kore
Forms cores coring cored Kore
- proper noun (Greek mythology) The birth name of Persephone/Proserpina, the queen of the Underworld/Hades, and goddess of the seasons and of vegetation. She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and the wife of Hades.
- proper noun A female given name from Ancient Greek.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A neighbourhood of San Diego, California, United States.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States.
- noun The central part of a fruit, containing the kernels or seeds. “the core of an apple or quince”
- noun The heart or inner part of a physical thing.
- noun The anatomical core, muscles which bridge abdomen and thorax.
- noun The center or inner part of a space or area.
- noun The most important part of a thing or aggregate of things wherever located and whether of any determinate location at all; the essence. “the core of a subject”
- noun (botany) The main and most diverse monophyletic group within a clade or taxonomic group.
- noun (game theory) The set of feasible allocations that cannot be improved upon by a subset (a coalition) of the economy's agents.
- noun (art) A thematic aesthetic; objects related to a specific topic “Photographs of cottagecore focuses on countrysides or forests.”
- adjective Forming the most important or essential part.
- adjective (board sports) Deeply and authentically involved in the culture surrounding the sport.
- verb To remove the core of an apple or other fruit.
- verb To cut or drill through the core of (something).
- verb To extract a sample with a drill.
- noun (obsolete) A body of individuals; an assemblage.
- noun A miner's underground working time or shift.
Synonyms
crux gist nucleus core group kernel substance center centre essence heart heart and soul inwardness marrow meat nub pith sum nitty-gritty Congress of Racial Equality effect burden magnetic core
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κόρη (kórē, “maiden”).
From French Coré.
From Middle English core, kore, coor (“apple-core, pith”), of obscure and uncertain origin. Possibly of native English origin, from Old English *cor, related to Old English *coruc, *corc (diminutive) (> Middle English cork, crok (“core of an apple or other fruit, heart of an onion”)) and Old English corn (“seed", also "grain”); or alternatively perhaps from Old French cuer (“heart”), from Latin cor (“heart”); or from Old French cors (“body”), from Latin corpus (“body”). Compare also Middle English colk, coke, coll (“the heart or centre of an apple or onion, core”), Dutch kern (“core”), German Kern (“core”). See also heart, corpse.
Compare typologically Russian серде́чник (serdéčnik), сердцеви́на (serdcevína)) (akin to се́рдце (sérdce), cognate with heart, Latin cor).
See corps.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A body of individuals; an assemblage. [Obs.]
- noun A miner's underground working time or shift. Raymond.
- noun A Hebrew dry measure; a cor or homer. Num. xi. 32 (Douay version).
- noun The heart or inner part of a thing, as of a column, wall, rope, of a boil, etc.; especially, the central part of fruit, containing the kernels or seeds; as, the core of an apple or quince.
Etymology [F. corps. See Corps.]
Etymology [Cf. Chore.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “Core”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details