What is the origin of the word care?

Answer 1

O.E. caru, cearu "sorrow, anxiety, grief," also "serious mental attention," from P.Gmc. *karo, from PIE base *gar- "cry out, scream." Sense of "charge, oversight, protection" is c.1400. The verb is O.E. carian, cearian "to feel concern or interest," from P.Gmc. *karojanan. Phrase couldn't care less is from 1946; could care less in the same sense (with an understood negative) is 1966. Careful "circumspect" was in O.E.; careless "inattentive" is from 1579; carefree is from 1795. Caretaker is first attested 1858. Care package was originally CARE package, supplies sent out by Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere, a post-World War II organization.

Answer 2

Sorry, no Latin, just a squirt of Germanic and a drop of Proto Indo-European O.E. caru, cearu "sorrow, anxiety, grief," also "serious mental attention," from P.Gmc. *karo, from PIE base *gar- "cry out, scream." Sense of "charge, oversight, protection" is c.1400. The verb is O.E. carian, cearian "to feel concern or interest," from P.Gmc. *karojanan.