caritas

Latin

Alternative forms

• charitas (Medieval Latin)
• karitas (Medieval Latin)

Etymology

From cārus (“dear, expensive”) +‎ -tās.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkaː.ri.taːs/, [ˈkäːrɪt̪äːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈka.ri.tas/, [ˈkäːrit̪äs]

Noun

cāritās f (genitive cāritātis); third declension

1. dearness
2. costliness, high price
3. charity, the attitude of kindness and understanding towards others
4. regard, esteem, affection, love
5. lack of something, deficiency

   Synonyms: pauperiēs, paupertās, indigentia, pēnūria, dēficientia, dēsīderium, dēfectiō, ūsus, angustia, inopia, necessitās, miseria

   Antonyms: cōpia, abundantia, affluentia, ūbertās, fertilitās, ūber, magnitūdō

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cāritās	cāritātēs
Genitive	cāritātis	cāritātum
Dative	cāritātī	cāritātibus
Accusative	cāritātem	cāritātēs
Ablative	cāritāte	cāritātibus
Vocative	cāritās	cāritātēs

Descendants

• Italian: carità
• → Old French: charité
  • French: charité
  • → Middle English: charite
    • English: charity
• Old French: cherté
  • French: cherté
  • → Middle English: chierte
• Old Occitan: caritat
  • Catalan: caritat
  • Occitan: caritat
• Piedmontese: carità
• Old Galician-Portuguese:
  • Galician: caridade
  • Portuguese: caridade
• Romanian: caritate
• Spanish: caridad

References

• “caritas”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “caritas”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• caritas in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• caritas in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • dearth of corn; high prices: caritas annonae (opp. vilitas), also simply annona
    
• Dizionario latino Olivetti

Portuguese

Noun

caritas

1. feminine plural of carito

Adjective

caritas

1. feminine plural of carito

Spanish

Noun

caritas

1. plural of carita