care

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   activity involved in maintaining something in good working order

   They wrote the manual on car care.

2. 2
   noun

   the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something

   no medical care was required

3. 3
   noun

   attention and management implying responsibility for safety

   They are in the care of a bodyguard.

4. 4
   noun

   a cause for feeling concern

   Their major care was the illness of their spouse.

5. 5
   noun

   an anxious feeling

   care had aged him

6. 6
   verb

   to feel concern or interest

   I really care about my work

7. 7
   verb

   to prefer or wish to do something

   Do you care to try this dish?

8. 8
   verb

   to be in charge of, act on, or dispose of

   I am caring for the shop while the owner is away.

Etymology

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.