cara

Forms

cara f (genitive carae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is apparently borrowed from Ancient Greek κάρα (kárā, “head, face”).^[1][2][3][4] Etymonline also gives the Greek source as possible, not certain.^[5] Wiktionary traces the Greek word to Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂-(e)s-n-, from the root Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“top, head, horn”), the root also of Latin cornū (“horn”) and cerebrum (“brain”).^[1][2] Du Cange notes that the Aeolians used the Greek word as a feminine.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates its first use to the sixth century.^[2] Du Cange quotes Corippus, in his poem on the emperor Justin: postquam vēnēre verendam Caesaris ante caram, “after they had come before the revered face of Caesar”.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

In Latin it stayed a rare word.^[1] A late glossary gives it as a Greek word, and Gaffiot glosses it there as “face”;^[1][3] medieval glossaries explain it as caput, head.^[6] The MLW cites the Bamberg antidotary for the head: a grain of the remedy is good for toothache and for the head.^[4][2] Wiktionary finds it next in medieval documents from Spain.^[1] Du Cange cites the laws of Aragon for cara a cara, face to face, and the statutes of Marseille for lapidēs dē cara, the facing stones of a building.^[6]

Its life was in Romance, where it means the face and features, the sense of Classical vultus:^[1] Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan and Occitan cara, Old French chiere (French chère) and dialects of northern Italy.^[1][6] Old French chiere gave English cheer, first “the face” about 1200.^[5]

Timeline

• 6th century AD – Corippus speaks of the emperor's face.^[6][2]
• 9th/10th century – The Bamberg antidotary uses it of the head.^[4][2]
• c. 1200 – English chere, “the face”, from Old French chiere.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin, rare) The face, countenance.^[3][6][2][5]
2. (Medieval Latin, rare) The head.^[4][6][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) The face or front of a building stone.^[6]

Related words

• caput
• vultus
• faciēs
• English cheer

Usage notes

It is not the feminine of cāra, “dear”, which Köbler lists separately.^[2] Du Cange records a second medieval cara in the Monk of St Gall for a bird he could not identify; his editor took it for the quail.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre