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cordial

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Cordials
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cor⋅dial

  [kawr-juhl or, especially Brit., -dee-uhl]
Use cordial in a Sentence
–adjective
1. courteous and gracious; friendly; warm: a cordial reception.
2. invigorating the heart; stimulating.
3. sincere; heartfelt: a cordial dislike.
4. Archaic. of or pertaining to the heart.
–noun
5. a strong, sweetened, aromatic alcoholic liquor; liqueur.
6. a stimulating medicine.
7. anything that invigorates or exhilarates.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < ML cordiālis, equiv. to L cordi- (s. of cor) heart + -ālis -al 1

Related forms:
cor⋅dial⋅ly, adverb
cor⋅dial⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. affectionate, genial. 2. cheering.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Cordials
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cor·dial   (kôr'jəl)   
adj.  

  1. Warm and sincere; friendly: a cordial greeting; cordial relations. See Synonyms at gracious.

  2. Strongly felt; fervent: a cordial abhorrence of waste.

  3. Serving to invigorate; stimulating.

n.  

  1. A stimulant; a tonic.

  2. A liqueur.


[Middle English, of the heart, from Medieval Latin cordiālis, from Latin cor, cord-, heart; see kerd- in Indo-European roots.]
cor·dial'i·ty (-jāl'ĭ-tē, -jē-āl'-, -dē-āl'-), cor'dial·ness n., cor'dial·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

cordial 
c.1386, from M.Fr. cordial, from M.L. cordialis "of or for the heart," from L. cor (gen. cordis) "heart" (see heart). Original sense of n. was "medicine, food, or drink that stimulates the heart;" adj. meaning "heartfelt, from the heart" is c.1477.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: cor·dial
Pronunciation: 'kor-j&l
Function: noun
: an invigorating and stimulating medicine, food, or drink
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Encyclopedia

cordial

a liqueur (q.v.); though the term cordial was formerly used for only those liqueurs that were thought to have a tonic or stimulating quality due to the medicinal components of their flavourings, the terms cordial and liqueur are now used interchangeably.

Learn more about cordial with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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