"C" Word Origins

carbonate

French

From French carbonate, built from "carbon" plus the chemistry suffix -ate, used for salts of acids.

carboniferous

Origin

From carboniferous (“producing carbon”), from carbon + -i- + -ferous.

carbuncle

Origin

From Middle English carbuncle, charbocle, from Old French carbuncle, charbuncle, from Latin carbunculus (“a small coal; a reddish kind of precious stone; a kind of tumor”), diminutive of carbō (“a coal, charcoal”). Doublet of Garfinkel and Garfunkel.

carburetor

Origin · 1896

From "carburet," an old chemistry term meaning to enrich with carbon, plus the agent suffix -or. First used for engines around 1896.

carcajou

Origin

Borrowed from French carcajou, probably from the same Algonquian source as (certainly related to) kinkajou.

carcass

Old French

From Anglo-Norman carcois, related to Old French charcois — the exact roots further back are uncertain.

card

Latin

From Old French carte, from Latin charta, "paper," ultimately from Greek khartes, "papyrus" — the same root as "chart."

cardamom

Latin

From Greek kardamomon, via Latin and Old French.

cardboard

Origin

A compound of "card" (in the old sense of stiff paper) and "board."

cardiac

Greek

From Greek kardiakos, "of the heart," from kardia, "heart."

Cardiff

Welsh

From Welsh Caerdydd, meaning "fort on the (River) Taff."

cardigan

Origin · 1800

Named after James Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan, a British military commander of the 1800s.

cardinal

Latin

From Latin cardinalis, "pertaining to a hinge," from cardo, "hinge" — something a cardinal rule or point everything else "turns" on.

cardio

Origin

A shortened form of "cardiovascular."

cardiologist

Origin

From "cardio-" (heart) plus "-logist" (a specialist in a field of study).

cardiology

Greek

From Greek kardia ("heart") plus -logy ("study of").

cardiomyopathy

Origin

From cardio- ("heart") plus myopathy ("disease of muscle tissue").

cardiovascular

Latin

From cardio- ("heart") plus vascular ("relating to blood vessels").

cardoon

Origin

From Middle English cardoun, from Old French cardon, from Late Latin cardōnem, from Latin cardus, alternative form of carduus (“thistle”). Respelled on analogy of -oon nouns. Doublet of cardon and chard.

cardsharp

Origin

From card + sharp (“cheater, dishonest person”).

care

Old English

From Old English caru/cearu ("worry, sorrow, concern"), from a Germanic root meaning "to cry out" — the word originally leaned more toward grief than the neutral "attention" sense it carries today.

career

Latin

From French carrière ("racecourse, road"), from Italian carriera, ultimately from Latin carrus ("wheeled vehicle") — the racecourse sense came first, and "career" only later broadened to mean someone's whole working path, as if running a long track through life.

carefree

Origin

From care + free — literally "free of care."

careful

Old English

From Old English carful, from care + -ful ("full of").

carefully

Origin

From careful + -ly.

carefulness

Origin

From Middle English [Term?], from Old English carfulnes (“care, anxiety, a charge, cure of souls, solicitude, carefulness, curiousness, curiosity”), equivalent to careful + -ness.

caregiver

Origin

From care + giver — literally "one who gives care."

caregiving

Origin

From care + giving.

careless

Old English

From Old English carlēas, from care + -less ("without").

carelessly

Origin

From careless + -ly.

carelessness

Origin

From careless + -ness.

carer

Origin

From care + -er.

caress

Latin

From French caresse, from Italian carezza ("endearment"), ultimately from Latin cārus ("dear, beloved").

caretaker

Origin

From care + taker — literally "one who takes care" (of a place).

caretaking

Origin

From care + taking.

careworn

Origin

From care (“sorrow, worry”) + worn.

Carey

Origin

* As a German surname, Americanized from Gehrig, Gehring. * As a Welsh surname, variant of Carew. * As an English surname, from placenames derived from Proto-Brythonic *karɨd (“to love”). * As an Irish surname, from mac Fhiachra (“descendant of Fiachra”), from préachán (“crow”). * Also as an Irish surname, from the root of the name Kerry.

Cargill

Origin

Probably from Pictish. The first element is equivalent to Welsh caer (“fort, ramparts”).

cargo

Late Latin

From Spanish cargo ("load"), from cargar ("to load"), from Late Latin carricāre — a doublet of the English word "charge."

Caribbean

Origin

Named after the Carib people, an indigenous group of the West Indies, plus -an.

caribou

French

Borrowed from Canadian French caribou, from the Mi'kmaq word qalipu, meaning roughly "the one that shovels (snow)" — a nod to how the animal paws through snow to reach food.

caricature

Latin

From French caricature, from Italian caricatura, ultimately from Latin carrus ("cart, load") — via the idea of "loading" or exaggerating someone's features. Not related to the word "character," despite the resemblance.

carillon

Origin

Borrowed from French carillon.

Carina

Latin · 1763

From Latin carīna ("the keel of a ship") — the constellation was named by the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1763.

caring

Origin

From care + -ing, the adjective form built from the verb.

carjacking

Origin

A blend of "car" and "hijacking."

cark

Origin

From Middle English carken (“to be anxious, worry”, intransitive), from Old English *carcian ("to be sorrowful, worry"; found in becarcian (“to worry about, care for”)), a frequentative form of Old English carian (“to care”), equivalent to care + -k. The Middle English carken, also charken (“to load (sth.); to bear (crops); to burden, harass”, transitive), from Old Northern French carquier (“to load, burden”), from Latin carricāre (“to load”), related to Old French chargier (“to load”), is a different word often confused with the above.

carl

Old Norse

From Old Norse karl ("man, husband"), a doublet of the English word "churl."