warm the cockles of one's heart



warm the cockles of one's heart

Gratify one, make one feel good, as in It warms the cockles of my heart to see them getting along so well. This expression uses a corruption of the Latin name for the heart's ventricles, cochleae cordis. [Second half of 1600s]
See also: cockle, heart, of, warm

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Cathleenkath-LEENIrish, English
Nuha-Arabic
IsmoEES-moFinnish
JeĻEna-Latvian
PetroPE-tro (Esperanto)Ukrainian, Esperanto
Liv (2)LIVEnglish