Etymograph

English

care

Care comes from Old English caru ‘worry, anxiety, care; sorrow’, from Proto-Germanic *karō ‘complaint, lament’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeh₂r- ‘to shout, call’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵeh₂r-‘to shout, call’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵoh₂réh₂reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*karō‘complaint, lament; worry, sorrow’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*karu‘care, worry’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150caru‘worry, anxiety, care; sorrow’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500care‘grief’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1595same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵeh₂r-‘to shout, call’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵoh₂réh₂reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*karō‘complaint, lament; worry, sorrow’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*karu‘care, worry’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150caru‘worry, anxiety, care; sorrow’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500care‘grief’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1595same form

Earliest quotation: 1595, The Life and Death of King Richard the Second: “More health and happiness betide my liege / Than…”

The story

Related also to Dutch karig (‘scanty’), German karg (‘sparse, meagre, barren’), Latin garriō, Ancient Greek γῆρυς (gêrus).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵeh₂r- ‘shout, call’

charm, garrulous, 13 more

Another origin of care

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵeh₂r-‘voice, exclamation’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*karō‘complaint, lament, worry’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*karōną‘to care’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*karōn‘to care’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150carian‘to sorrow, grieve, be troubled, be anxious, to care for, heed’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500caren‘to care’
  7. Englishtodaycare

Today it means

noun Close attention; concern; responsibility.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵeh₂r- / care

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