caress

C2+ Topic:Senses & Perception

US /kəˈrɛs/ UK /kəˈrɛs/ See IPA manual

verb noun

Meanings

1

verb
to touch or stroke gently and lovingly

He caressed the child's hair until she fell asleep.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to touch or stroke gently... stroke fondle pet cuddle embrace nuzzle touch

Word family

Forms caressingly

Derived forms caressercaressing

Etymology

From French caresse, from Italian carezza ('endearment'), from caro ('dear'), from Latin cārus ('dear, beloved').

carezza Italian cārus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Senses & Perception Word Formation & Derivatives

# caress

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** kəˈrɛs
**IPA (UK):** kəˈrɛs

## Meanings
1. to touch or stroke gently and lovingly

## Examples
- He caressed the child's hair until she fell asleep.

## Synonyms
- stroke
- fondle
- pet
- cuddle
- embrace
- nuzzle
- touch

## Derived Forms
- caresser
- caressing

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: carezza
- Root: cārus

## Etymology
From French caresse, from Italian carezza ('endearment'), from caro ('dear'), from Latin cārus ('dear, beloved').

## AI Etymology
Caress is a verb and noun meaning "to touch or stroke gently and lovingly". Historically, it is from French caresse, from Italian carezza ('endearment'), from caro ('dear'), from Latin cārus ('dear, beloved'). The historical chain links Italian carezza with Latin cārus. Close English family members include caresser, and caressing. This keeps the modern verb and noun sense tied to the older forms and language sequence behind it.

## Topics
- Senses & Perception
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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caress

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