Cares

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /kɛɹz/

Definitions

1. Feelings of concern or anxiety about something or someone ; performs actions to provide for or look after a person or thing
2. States of being troubled or attentive to issues ; gives attention and support to fulfill needs of others
3. Worries or apprehensions about situations or people ; assumes responsibility for the wellbeing or maintenance of someone or something

Etymology: The verb "cares" is the third-person singular form of "care", and the verb's oldest sense was almost the reverse of today's comfortable meaning. Its Old English ancestor "carian" meant "to sorrow, grieve, be troubled, be anxious", and only later stretched toward "to care for, heed". The noun it grew from, Old English "caru", covered anxiety, sorrow and trouble before it came to mean attentive concern. Those older senses survive in the family tree. The Proto-Germanic root behind the verb meant "to lament" or "to groan", and German "karen" still carries the sense of groaning or gasping. Icelandic "kæra" now means "to care" in the sense of liking something, a mild shift from the original burden of grief.

Synonyms: concerns, worries, minds, attends

Antonyms: disregards, neglects, ignores