Etymograph

English

caries

Caries comes from Latin cariēs ‘decay, rot, rottenness, corruption’, from careō ‘to lack, be without., to be deprived of’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *kazēō.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kazēō1‘to lack’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcareō1‘to lack, be without., to be deprived of’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcariēs1‘decay, rot, rottenness, corruption’
  4. Englishtodaycaries1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English caries

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kazēōWiktionary, English caries‘to lack’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcareōWiktionary, English caries‘to lack, be without., to be deprived of’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcariēsWiktionary, English caries‘decay, rot, rottenness, corruption’
  4. EnglishtodaycariesWiktionary, English caries

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- ‘to cut’

castle, caste, chastity, chaste, chastise, castrate, cashel, 23 more

through Latin careō ‘to lack, be without., to be deprived of’

cassation, 4 more

Today it means

noun The progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “caries”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kazēō / caries

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