care
Noun pluralcares (some meanings)
Pluralcares (some meanings)
- 1To feel concern or interest in someone or something, or to mind or be bothered by something.
Voters care deeply about who represents them in government.
Many people simply don't care about politics anymore.
UsageCare about something you think matters; care for usually means look after or like. I don't care can stand alone.
Note
Old English carian already covered the whole span, from to sorrow and be anxious to care for and heed. The verb has since kept the concern and lost the grief. The Tempest shows an older pattern with for: "What cares these roarers for the name of king?"
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Old English carian covered sorrow, anxiety, concern and heed. en.wiktionary.org
- The verb retains the concern meaning, while the historical grief meaning is absent from its current senses. en.wiktionary.org
- The quoted wording occurs in The Tempest, spoken by the Boatswain in Act I, scene i, and illustrates care with for. gutenberg.org
- 2
- 3To look after or watch over someone or something, especially one needing help.
Volunteers care for abandoned animals at the shelter.
He cared for his garden as if each plant were a child.
UsageTakes for: care for a sick parent; take care of means much the same.
Oppositeneglect
Note
The same two words also form the polite "want" sense, as in would you care for another slice of cake? Context tells them apart. Something that needs looking after points to this sense; something being offered points to the other.
- 4Close attention, concern, or responsibility given to something or someone.
The surgeon worked with meticulous care throughout the operation.
Raising a family requires patience and constant care.
UsageCommon in take care, with care and care should be taken.
Similarattention, caution, diligence, thoroughness
Oppositenegligence, neglect
Note
Its warning form survives in "have a care," an old-fashioned way of saying "be careful." The 1925 Phantom of the Opera has "Have a care, Buquet." Shakespeare's Leonato thanks Dogberry "for thy care and honest pains," setting it beside labor itself.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- "Have a care" is a dated warning meaning "be careful." en.wiktionary.org
- The film The Phantom of the Opera was released in 1925. en.wikipedia.org
- The film contains the words "Have a care, Buquet." en.wiktionary.org
- 5The maintenance and upkeep needed to keep something in good condition.
Proper care will extend the life of leather shoes.
The lawn requires year-round care to stay green.
UsageOften after the thing: skin care, hair care, lawn care.
Similarmaintenance, upkeep
Oppositeneglect
- 6The condition of being looked after or protected by others.
The orphaned children were placed in the care of distant relatives.
He felt safe knowing his savings were in the bank's care.
UsageUsually in the care of someone or in someone's care.
Similarcustody, charge, keeping, protection
- 7To want, desire, or feel inclined toward something.
Would you care to join us for dinner?
She did not care to explain her reasons.
UsageOffers: Would you care to dance? Refusals: I don't care to, which sounds cool and distant.
Note
A politeness verb, most at home in offers and refusals. In Appalachian speech the same words can mean the opposite, so I don't care to help there means I don't mind helping.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- In Appalachian speech, "I don't care to help" can mean "I don't mind helping." appalachian-english.library.sc.edu
Less common meanings
- 8A feeling of worry, trouble, or anxiety.
Free from financial worries, he hadn't a care in the world.
The cares of running a business kept her awake at night.
UsageOften plural: the cares of business; not a care in the world means no worries at all.
Similarworry, anxiety, concern, trouble
Note
Old English caru already meant anxiety, sorrow and grief. As worry it can be counted: the plural cares names separate burdens that pile up, as in Irving Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek" (1935).
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Old English caru meant anxiety, sorrow and grief. en.wiktionary.org
- Irving Berlin wrote 'Cheek to Cheek'. en.wikipedia.org
- 'Cheek to Cheek' was published in 1935. scholarsjunction.msstate.edu
- 'Cheek to Cheek' uses the plural cares for worries or burdens. en.wiktionary.org
- 9A person or thing that is the focus of one's watchful attention or anxiety.
The children were her constant care during the long voyage.
The aging vineyard remained the old man's chief care.
Similarconcern, responsibility, charge
- 10A feeling of deep grief or sorrow.
Sleep, that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care.
c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”More health and happiness betide my liege / Than can my care-tuned tongue deliver him!
1595, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”Note
The sense closest to the word's Old English roots, described under the "worry" meaning. Old English caru already meant sorrow as well as worry, and the sense lasted into the nineteenth century; it is now obsolete. Shakespeare's "care-tuned tongue" in Richard II is a voice set to sorrow, not merely to worry. Modern readers easily soften such lines, but there care is close to mourning.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- The sorrow sense reflects the word's Old English ancestry. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English caru meant both worry and sorrow. en.wiktionary.org
- The grief or sorrow sense survived into the nineteenth century and is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
- The exact phrase 'care-tuned tongue' occurs in Shakespeare's Richard II; Scroop speaks it to King Richard. folger.edu
- The Shakespeare quotation exemplifies care meaning grief or sorrow. en.wiktionary.org
- 11To like, take pleasure in, or think well of something, or to feel affection for someone; used with for, often in the negative.
Most critics did not care for the sequel, calling it slow and predictable.
Her parents never really cared for her new boyfriend.
UsageUsually negative: I don't care for spicy food is a mild, courteous way to say you dislike it.
Oppositedislike
Note
The phrase care for has two lives, and the rest of the sentence decides between them. She cares for her elderly father points to the looking-after meaning; she doesn't care for his friends means she dislikes them.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From Middle English "care", from Old English "caru" ("care, concern, anxiety, sorrow, grief"), from Proto-Germanic "*karō" ("care, sorrow, cry"), and ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "shout, call". It is related to Gothic "kara" ("care") and German "karg" ("meagre").
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts
- English care derives from Middle English care. en.wiktionary.org
- Middle English care derives from Old English caru, with the stated meanings. en.wiktionary.org
- The word descends from Proto-Germanic *karō, meaning care, sorrow or cry. en.wiktionary.org
- The proposed ultimate source is a Proto-Indo-European root meaning shout or call. en.wiktionary.org
- Gothic kara means care and is related to English care. en.wiktionary.org
- German karg means meagre and is related to English care. en.wiktionary.org
Proto-Germanic *karōną ("to care") gave Old English carian, which meant "to be anxious," "be troubled," "grieve, sorrow," and "to care for." This became Middle English caren. Gothic karōn ("to be concerned") and Icelandic kæra ("to care, like") are related.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- Proto-Germanic *karōną meant “to care.” en.wiktionary.org
- Old English carian descended from Proto-Germanic *karōną. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English carian had the listed meanings. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English carian became Middle English caren. en.wiktionary.org
- Gothic karōn meant “to be concerned” and is related to English care. en.wiktionary.org
- Icelandic kæra, glossed “to care, like,” is related to English care. en.wiktionary.org