carus Latin · revision 17910

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *keh₂-ro-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkaː.rʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkaː.rus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cārus''' (feminine cāra, neuter cārum, comparative cārior, superlative cārissimus); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Inscriptions often spell it ''kārus'';^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) ''chārus'' is wrong.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*kāro-|t=dear]], [[inh|ine-pro|*keh₂-ro-|t=desired, desirable]], a ro-adjective from the root [[m|ine-pro|*keh₂-|t=to desire, love]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ Cognate with [[xfa|karai|t=dear]], [[lv|kārs|t=lustful]], [[got|𐌷𐍉𐍂𐍃|tr=hors|t=adulterer]] (English [[m|en|whore]]), [[sga|carae|t=friend]] and [[sa|चारु|tr=cā́ru|t=dear]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) who uses it of prices: ''rogitō piscīs: indicant cārōs; agnīnam cāram, cāram būbulam'', “I ask about fish: they say it's dear; lamb dear, beef dear”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Cārus'' means both “expensive, costly” and, of persons and things, “dear, beloved, valued”, often of mutual affection, as in the epitaph formula ''coniugī cārissimae'', “to my dearest wife”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Its derivative ''[[cāritās]]'' likewise means “dearness” and “love”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “dear, beloved”.^(Stelten 1995) It is also a Roman cognomen, as of the poet Lucretius Carus and the emperor Carus.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ''agnīnam cāram, cāram būbulam''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid names the poet Carus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|expensive]], costly, [[m|en|dear]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Beloved, dear (of persons).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Dear, valued (of things).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cāritās]]

+ * [[percārus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[amor]]

+ * [[en|whore]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}