1534 W. Marshall tr. Erasmus Playne & Godly Expos. Commune Crede f. 19 They whiche are weake and feble: haue nede of strength and hartenynge.

1586 Praise of Musicke xii. 143 The sound of the trumpet in the warre is..to the valiaunt souldier, a hartening and incouragement.

1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xxv. 152 Which exceedeth all other kindes of dung in goodnes, for the great substance, strength and hartning which it giueth vnto the ground.

1660 G. Ironside Serm. preached at Dorchester 17 Else what an heartning would it be to the wicked, and how would they blaspheme?

1709 J. Spelman & T. Hearne Life Alfred the Great ii. 149 They were backward, and so faint as not to be put on without much Heartening and Encouragement.

1750 Hist. Charlotte Summers II. viii. 274 The plain honest heartning given her..made her pass the Night in greater Tranquillity than might be expected.

1823 J. Galt Ringan Gilhaize I. iv. 47 By them have I..been enabled, through thy merciful heartenings, to set at nought the temptations wherewith I have been tempted.

1898 Westm. Gaz. 9 June 8/2 Lord Herschell's speech must have proved full of heartening to the committee and officers of the Society.

1920 G. W. James Singing through Life with God xxxiv. 375 How the story of Joan of Arc has gone singing down the centuries for the heartening of weak and fainting men and women.

1999 V. M. Udwin Between Two Armies ii. 56 The ‘dismay’ felt by the Trojans, the heartening of the Danaans—these are emotional responses that..the audience can experience and respond to for itself.

1606 J. Marston Wonder of Women v. i. sig. F3^v My cause, is my bold hartning ods, That seeuen fold shield, just armes should fright the Gods.

1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Dict. in Compl. Gard'ner sig. b2^v To Recreate, is to turn up Ground, and recruit it with some heartning and fatning Mold or Mixtures.

1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery ix. 82 This is a pretty heartening Dish for a sick or weak Person.

1764 J. Grainger Sugar-cane iv. 138 With heartning food, with turtle, and with conchs.

1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd III. viii. iv. 152 The courage..with which the indefatigable Bailie undauntedly led the van, was a heartening example.

1895 J. Smith Permanent Message Exod. v. 67 A new, living and most heartening message from the Unseen.

1921 Co-operation Dec. 195/2 It is heartening to find that managers are voluntarily cutting their own wages.

1962 Life 6 Apr. 31/3 A ‘gun-toting’ priest is not a heartening phenomenon.

2000 T. Bonyhady Colonial Earth (2002) 9 It is heartening to know that some of the invaders were troubled by the morality of their dispossession of Australia's Aborigines.

1901 B. Runkle Helmet of Navarre xxiii. 317 ‘Courage, comrade. We'll have our lady yet.’ He smiled at him hearteningly.

1998 Daily Tel. 23 Feb. 9/5 Hearteningly, the ECB's drive to encourage girls to play cricket at school appears to be working.