Etymologically
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cara

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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]

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