Learn by heart

[nkitson]

Anyone know the origin? Why should it be the heart - most other languages do not use the same expression

[Quizmonster]

The heart is used in many expressions to mean the very centre of one's being...someone after my own heart...take heart...lose heart etc. The idea of having learnt something 'by heart' fits into that same category...ie the knowledge is 'in there' and integral to you.

The earliest-recorded use of the phrase in English appears in Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales'. As a matter of interest, the French do use 'par coeur' in the same way as we do.