care

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See also: Care, caré, căre, čáře, çare, çarë, and -care

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English care, from Old English caru, ċearu (“care, concern, anxiety, sorrow, grief, trouble”), from Proto-West Germanic *karu, from Proto-Germanic *karō (“care, sorrow, cry”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeh₂r- (“shout, call”). Cognate with Old Saxon cara, kara (“concern, action”), Middle High German kar (“sorrow, lamentation”), Icelandic kör (“sickbed”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍂𐌰 (kara, “concern, care”). Related also to Dutch karig (“scanty”), German karg (“sparse, meagre, barren”), Latin garriō, Ancient Greek γῆρυς (gêrus). See also chary.

Noun[edit]

care (countable and uncountable, plural cares)

  1. (obsolete) Grief, sorrow. [13th–19th c.]
  2. Close attention; concern; responsibility.
    Care should be taken when holding babies.
  3. Worry.
    I don't have a care in the world.
    • 1956, Irving Berlin (lyrics and music), “Cheek to Cheek”:
      Yes, heaven, I'm in heaven / And the cares that hung around me through the week / Seem to vanish like a gambler's lucky streak
  4. Maintenance, upkeep.
    dental care
  5. The treatment of those in need (especially as a profession).
    • 2013 June 21, Karen McVeigh, “US rules human genes can't be patented”, in The Guardian Weekly‎[1], volume 189, number 2, page 10:
      The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.
  6. The state of being cared for by others.
    in care
  7. The object of watchful attention or anxiety.
Quotations[edit]
  • 1925, Walter Anthony and Tom Reed (titles), Rupert Julian (director), The Phantom of the Opera, silent movie
    ‘Have a care, Buquet—ghosts like not to be seen or talked about!’
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
maintenance, upkeep — See also translations at maintenance
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English caren, carien, from Old English carian (“to sorrow, grieve, be troubled, be anxious, to care for, heed”), from Proto-West Germanic *karōn (“to care”), from Proto-Germanic *karōną (“to care”).

Cognate with Middle High German karn (“to complain, lament, grieve, mourn”), Alemannic German karen, kären (“to groan, wheeze, give a death rattle”), Swedish kära (“to fall in love”), Icelandic kæra (“to care, like”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍂𐍉𐌽 (karōn, “to be concerned”).

Verb[edit]

care (third-person singular simple present cares, present participle caring, simple past and past participle cared)

  2. (transitive, intransitive) To be concerned (about), to have an interest (in); to feel concern (about).
    "She doesn't care what you think." "I don't care, I'm still going."
  3. (intransitive, polite, formal) To want, to desire; to like; to be inclined towards.
    Would you care for another slice of cake?
    Would you care to dance?
    I don't care to hear your opinion.
  4. (intransitive, informal, by extension) For it to matter to, or make any difference to.
    • 2013, Addy Osmani, Developing Backbone.js Applications, page 175:
      An event aggregator facilitates a fire-and-forget model of communication. The object triggering the event doesn't care if there are any subscribers. It just fires the event and moves on.
  5. (intransitive) (with for) To look after or look out for.
    Young children can learn to care for a pet.
    He cared for his mother while she was sick.
  6. (intransitive, Appalachia) To mind; to object.
    • 2006, Grace Toney Edwards; JoAnn Aust Asbury; Ricky L. Cox, A Handbook to Appalachia: An Introduction to the Region, Univ. of Tennessee Press, →ISBN, page 108:
      After introducing herself, the therapist then asked the patient if it would be all right to do the exercises which the doctor had ordered for her. The patient would response, "Well, I don't care to." For several days, the therapist immediately left the room and officially recorded that the patient had "refused" therapy. […] It was not until months later that this therapist […] discovered that she should have been interpreting "I don't care to" as "I don't mind" doing those exercises now.
Usage notes[edit]
  • The sense “to want” is most commonly found as an interrogative or negative sentence, and may take a for clause (would you care for some tea?) or (as a catenative verb) takes a to infinitive (would you care to go with me?). See Appendix:English catenative verbs.
  • In the sense “to be concerned about”, care may idiomatically take a figurative amount as a direct object, as in the fixed phrase care a fig (equivalent to give a fig), or care one whit.
Conjugation[edit]
Conjugation of care
infinitive (to) care
present tense past tense
1st-person singular care cared
2nd-person singular care, carest† cared, caredst†
3rd-person singular cares, careth† cared
plural care
subjunctive care cared
imperative care —
participles caring cared

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Stanley, Oma (1937), “I. Vowel Sounds in Stressed Syllables”, in The Speech of East Texas (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 2), New York: Columbia University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, § 6, page 16.

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

care

  1. inflection of carer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams[edit]

Italian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈka.re/
  • Rhymes: -are
  • Hyphenation: cà‧re

Adjective[edit]

care f pl

  1. feminine plural of caro

Anagrams[edit]

Latin[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

carē

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of careō

Adjective[edit]

cāre

  1. vocative masculine singular of cārus

Adverb[edit]

care (comparative carius, superlative carissimē)

  1. at a high price

References[edit]

  • “care”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “care”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • care in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette

Middle English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English caru, ċearu (“care, concern, anxiety, sorrow, grief, trouble”), from Proto-West Germanic *karu, from Proto-Germanic *karō. See Modern English care for more.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

care (plural cares)

  1. grief; sorrow [from 13th c.]
    • 1470–1485 (date produced)​, Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book V, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:
      Than Feraunte his cosyn had grete care and cryed full lowde […].
      (please add an English translation of this quote)

Descendants[edit]

  • English: care
  • Scots: care
  • Yola: caure, caare, caar

References[edit]

Pali[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Alternative forms

Noun[edit]

care

  1. inflection of cara (“walker; frequenting”):
    1. locative singular
    2. accusative plural

Verb[edit]

care

  1. first-person singular present/imperative middle of carati (“to walk”)
  2. optative active singular of carati (“to walk”)

Romanian[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Latin quālis, quālem. Compare Aromanian cari and Italian quale.

Pronunciation[edit]

Determiner[edit]

care

  1. which
    Care din aceste jocuri este nou?
    Which of these games is new?
Inflection[edit]
declension of care
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/accusative care care care care
genitive/dative cărui cărei căror căror

Pronoun[edit]

care

  1. which, that, who
    El este un om care a văzut foarte multe lucruri.
    He is a man who has seen very many things.

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

care n pl

  1. plural of car (cart)

Etymology 3[edit]

Verb[edit]

care

  1. third-person singular/plural present subjunctive of căra

Venetian[edit]

Adjective[edit]

care f

  1. feminine plural of caro
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