† a. A heart like that of a lion, i.e., brave, courageous; in quot. 1665 with pun on hart. b. A lion-hearted, courageous person; commonly used to translate Cœur de Lion, the traditional appellation of Richard I. of England.
1665. Dryden, Ind. Emperor, I. ii. My lion-hart is with love’s toils beset.
1682. Otway, Venice Preserved, III. ii. Oh! I could tell a Story would rouze thy Lion-Heart out of its Den.
1832. Tennyson, Margaret, iii. What songs … The lion-heart, Plantagenet, Sang looking thro’ his prison bars?
1872. Ruskin, Eagle’s N., § 240. The Christian chivalry which was led in England by the Lion-Heart, and in France by Roland, and in Spain by the Cid.
