Etymograph

English

karezza

Karezza comes from Italian carezza ‘caress’, from caro ‘dear, sweetheart’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂- ‘to desire, to wish’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂-‘to desire, to wish’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kéh₂rosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kāros‘dear’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcārus‘dear, beloved’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentcaro‘dear, sweetheart’
  6. Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentcarezza‘caress’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1903karezza

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂-‘to desire, to wish’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kéh₂rosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kāros‘dear’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcārus‘dear, beloved’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentcaro‘dear, sweetheart’
  6. Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentcarezza‘caress’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1903karezza

Earliest quotation: 1903, Alice Bunker Stockham: “Karezza seems to me to be the sex-blending of…”

The story

Coined by Alice Bunker Stockham from Italian carezza (‘caress’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *keh₂- ‘to desire, to wish’

cherish, kama, whorehouse, 3 more

through Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ros

whore, 1 more

through Latin cārus ‘dear, beloved’

charity, 1 more

through Italian carezza ‘caress’

caress

Today it means

noun Non-religious spiritual sexual practices that draw upon tantric techniques of body control but do not involve any of tantra's cultural or iconographic symbolism; intended to promote birth control, equality for women, and marital pleasure and fidelity.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *keh₂- / karezza

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