caries

C2+ Topic:The Human Body

US /ˈkɛriz/ UK /ˈkeəriːz/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
decay and crumbling of a tooth or bone

Regular brushing helps prevent dental caries.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · decay and crumbling of a... decay rot cavity decomposition

Word family

Derived forms carious

Etymology

From Latin cariēs ('decay, rottenness'), perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European root *ker- ('to harm, decay').

cariēs Latin *ker- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# caries

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɛriz/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkeəriːz/

## Meanings
1. decay and crumbling of a tooth or bone

## Examples
- Regular brushing helps prevent dental caries.

## Synonyms
- decay
- rot
- cavity
- decomposition

## Derived Forms
- carious

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: cariēs
- Root: *ker-

## Etymology
From Latin cariēs ('decay, rottenness'), perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European root *ker- ('to harm, decay').

## AI Etymology
Caries comes from Latin cariēs ('decay, rottenness'), perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European root *ker- ('to harm, decay'). The historical trail runs through cariēs in Latin and *ker- in Proto-Indo-European. Used as a noun, caries now means "decay and crumbling of a tooth or bone", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as carious. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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