careful

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈkeə.fəl/, US /ˈker.fəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English carful, cearful, formed from caru, cearu “care, sorrow”, the source of care, and -ful.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Full of grief, mournful, sorrowful”, and “full of care or anxiety”: before 1000 in the OED.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “applying attention, painstaking”, the main modern one, is from late Old English,^[2] about 1050 in the OED,^[5] and “taking good care of” is also from before 1000.^[5] In Middle English it also meant miserable or unfortunate, and of things causing fear, dreadful;^[2][5] a careful-bed was a sickbed and careful-day the day of judgement.^[2] The sense of grief died out in the early 18th century,^[4] and “anxious, troubled” is now archaic.^[4][6] “Cautious, on one's guard” is from 1580,^[5] and of things, done with care, from 1651.^[5] Johnson in 1755 gave first “anxious; solicitous; full of concern”, quoting “Martha, thou art careful”.^[7]

Timeline

• a. 1000 – mournful; anxious.^[5]
• c. 1050 – painstaking.^[5]
• c. 1200 – of things, sorrowful.^[5]
• 1580 – cautious.^[5]
• 1651 – done with care.^[5]
• early 18th century – sorrowful sense obsolete.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Attentive to possible danger, error or harm; cautious.
2. Thorough and painstaking; conscientious.
3. Protective or concerned: careful of others' feelings.
4. (archaic) Full of cares; anxious.

Word family

• carefully
• carefulness

Related words

• care
• careless
• caring

Usage notes

The American Heritage groups careful with heedful, mindful, observant, watchful and meticulous, all meaning “cautiously attentive”.^[8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin