care

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵeh₂r-der. Proto-Germanic *karō Proto-West Germanic *karu Old English caru Middle English care English care 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.

1. Close attention; concern; responsibility.

   “Care should be taken when holding babies.”

   “I thank thee for thy care and honest pains.”

2. Worry.

   “I don’t have a care in the world.”

   “Yes, heaven, I’m in heaven / And the cares that hung around me through the week / Seem to vanish like a gambler’s lucky streak”

3. Maintenance, upkeep.

   “dental care”

   “Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.”

4. The treatment of those in need (especially as a profession).

   “The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.”

5. The state of being cared for by others.

   “in care”

6. The object of watchful attention or anxiety.

   “Right sorrowfully mourning her bereaved cares.”

7. Grief, sorrow.

   “More health and happiness betide my liege / Than can my care-tuned tongue deliver him!”

   “Sleep, that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care.”

verb

Etymology: From Middle English caren, carien, from Old English carian (“to sorrow, grieve, be troubled, be anxious, to care for, heed”), from Proto-West Germanic *karōn (“to care”), from Proto-Germanic *karōną (“to care”). Cognate with Old Saxon karōn (“to lament”), Middle High German karen, karn (“to complain, lament, grieve, mourn”), archaic German karen (“to groan, gasp”), Alemannic German karen, kären (“to groan, gasp”), Swedish kära (“to fall in love”), Icelandic kæra (“to care, like”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍂𐍉𐌽 (karōn, “to be concerned”).

1. To be concerned (about), to have an interest (in); to feel concern (about).

   “She doesn’t care what you think.”

   “I don’t care, I’m still going.”

2. To want, to desire; to like; to be inclined towards or interested in.

   “Would you care for another slice of cake?”

   “Would you care to dance?”

3. To be affected by, to treat as relevant for a subsequent course of action.

   “An event aggregator facilitates a fire-and-forget model of communication. The object triggering the event doesn’t care if there are any subscribers. It just fires the event and moves on.”

4. (with for) To look after or look out for.

   “Young children can learn to care for a pet.”

   “He cared for his mother while she was sick.”

5. To mind; to object.

   “After introducing herself, the therapist then asked the patient if it would be all right to do the exercises which the doctor had ordered for her. The patient would response, "Well, I don't care to." For several days, the therapist immediately left the room and officially recorded that the patient had "refused" therapy. […] It was not until months later that this therapist […] discovered that she should have been interpreting "I don't care to" as "I don't mind" doing those exercises now.”