cara

See also: Appendix:Variations of "cara"

Aragonese

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin cara, from Ancient Greek κάρα (kára).

Noun

cara f (plural caras)

(anatomy) face

References

Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) “cara”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

Asturian

Etymology

From Late Latin or Vulgar Latin cara, from Ancient Greek κάρα (kára, “head, face”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾa/, [ˈka.ɾa]

Noun

cara f (plural cares)

(anatomy) face
Synonym: rostru

Catalan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈka.ɾə]
IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈka.ɾa]
Rhymes: -aɾa

Etymology 1

Inherited from Late Latin or Vulgar Latin cara, from Ancient Greek κάρα (kára, “head, face”).

Noun

cara f (plural cares)

face (front part of the head)
face (public image)
heads (side of a coin)
face, surface

Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

cara

feminine singular of car

Crimean Tatar

Noun

cara

wound

Declension

Declension of cara

nominative	cara
genitive	caranıñ
dative	carağa
accusative	caranı
locative	carada
ablative	caradan

Derived terms

carağa tuz basmaq (“rub salt in the wound”)
carasın teşmek (“scratch one's wound”)

French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ka.ʁa/
Homophones: caras, carât

Verb

cara

third-person singular past historic of carer

Galician

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾa/ [ˈkɑ.ɾɐ]
Rhymes: -aɾa
Hyphenation: ca‧ra

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese cara, from Late Latin or Vulgar Latin cara, from Ancient Greek κάρα (kára, “head, face”).

Noun

cara f (plural caras)

face (of a person or animal)
Synonym: rostro
expression; gesture
- 2016, Malandrómeda, Encontro con !@#$%!! [song]:
  Os anos que botei soñando con este momento
  Funche compoñendo un discurso co tempo.
  Na cabeza creaba imaxes claras
  Dos teus ollos, escoitándome, e das túas caras
  The years I passed dreaming with this moment
  I composed a discourse along the time.
  Inside my head I was making a clear image
  of your eyes, while you was listening to me, and of your gestures
Synonyms: aceno, xesto
surface (face of a polyhedron)

Derived terms

Preposition

cara

to
Synonym: para

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

cara

feminine singular of caro

References

Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “cara”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “cara”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “cara”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “cara”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “cara”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Indonesian

Alternative forms

acara (archaic)
tjara (pre-1967)

Etymology

From Malay cara, from Classical Malay cara.

From Javanese ꦕꦫ (cara, “manner, way, custom, style, language”), from Old Javanese cara, cāra, ācāra (“behaviour, conduct”), from Sanskrit आचार (ācāra, “behaviour, good conduct; usage; custom; rule”), from Sanskrit चर् (car, “to move, to practice”). Doublet of acara, acaram, and ajar.
Alternatively, from Persian (čâra, “remedy; help; business; scheme; means, manner, mode”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃa.ra/
Hyphenation: ca‧ra
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ra, -a

Noun

cara (plural cara-cara, first-person possessive caraku, second-person possessive caramu, third-person possessive caranya)

way
manner

Related terms

secara

Irish

Alternative forms

caraid (Cois Fharraige)

Etymology

From Middle Irish cara (“friend, relation”) (compare Scottish Gaelic caraid, Manx carrey), from Old Irish carae (“friend, relation”),^[1] from Proto-Celtic *karants (“friend”), from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ros (“dear”) (compare Latin cārus, English charity, whore).

Pronunciation

(Munster, Aran) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑɾˠə/^[2]
(Connemara, Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾˠə/

Noun

cara m (genitive singular carad, nominative plural cairde)

friend

Declension

Declension of cara

Fifth declension

Bare forms

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cara	cairde
Vocative	a chara	a chairde
Genitive	carad	cairde
Dative	cara caraid (archaic, dialectal)	cairde

Forms with the definite article

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	an cara	na cairde
Genitive	an charad	na gcairde
Dative	leis an gcara leis an gcaraid (archaic, dialectal) don chara don charaid (archaic, dialectal)	leis na cairde

Alternative genitive plural: carad (in certain phrases, otherwise archaic)

Derived terms

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
cara	chara	gcara
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 cara”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 36, page 20

Italian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈka.ra/
Rhymes: -ara
Hyphenation: cà‧ra

Adjective

cara

feminine singular of caro

Noun

cara f (plural care)

female equivalent of caro

Anagrams

-arca, Arca, arac, arca

Javanese

Romanization

cara

Romanization of ꦕꦫ

Latin

Etymology 1

Inflected form of cārus (“beloved”).

Adjective

cāra

inflection of cārus:
1. feminine nominative/vocative singular
2. neuter nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural

Adjective

cārā

ablative feminine singular of cārus

Etymology 2

Apparently borrowed from Ancient Greek κάρᾱ (kárā, “head, face”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂-(e)s-n-, from the root *ḱerh₂- (“top, head, horn”). Cognate to Latin cornū, corvus, crabrō, cerebrum and cernuus.

Attested tenuously in a single late Latin glossary, where it is given as Greek, and then in medieval Latin documents from Spain. Appears in Romance languages with the meaning “face, facial features” (corresponding to Latin vultus).

Noun

cara f (genitive carae); first declension

(Late Latin, rare, glosses, Medieval Latin, uncertain) the head
Synonym: caput
- Corpus Glossariorum Latinorum, 4 587.8, (etymologising on Virgil's Georgics III, 269):
  'Gargara' quasi cara, caros, idest 'caput, capitis'
- Antidotarium Bambergense, 19 :
  dente […] dolentibus et carā satis antidotī adpositum prōdest

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cara	carae
Genitive	carae	carārum
Dative	carae	carīs
Accusative	caram	carās
Ablative	carā	carīs
Vocative	cara	carae

Descendants

North Italian:
- Old Ligurian: cera
  - → Gallurese: cera
  - Ligurian: cêa
  - → Sassarese: cera
- Piedmontese: cera
Northern Gallo-Romance:
- Old French: chiere
  - French: chère
  - → Middle English: chere
    - English: cheer
Southern Gallo-Romance:
- Aragonese: cara
- Catalan: cara
  - → Sardinian: cara
- Occitan: cara ⇒ caratge (merger with visatge)
  Nord-Occitan: chara
Ibero-Romance:
- Old Leonese: cara
  - Asturian: cara
  - Extremaduran: cara
  - Leonese: cara
  - Mirandese: cara
- Old Galician-Portuguese: cara
  - Fala: cara
  - Galician: cara
  - Portuguese: cara
- Old Spanish: cara
  - Spanish: cara

Latvian

Noun

cara m

genitive singular of cars

Malay

Etymology

From Sanskrit आचार (ācāra, “behaviour, good conduct; usage; custom; rule”), from Sanskrit चर् (car, “to move, to practice”).

Alternatively, from Persian (čâra, “remedy; help; business; scheme; means, manner, mode”).

Pronunciation

(Johor-Selangor) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃa.rə/
(Riau-Lingga) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃa.ra/
Rhymes: -ara, -ra, -a

Noun

cara (Jawi spelling چارا, plural cara-cara, informal 1st possessive caraku, 2nd possessive caramu, 3rd possessive caranya)

manner, means, method
style, fashion

Descendants

> Indonesian: cara (inherited)
> Peranakan Indonesian: tjara (inherited)

Middle Irish

Alternative forms

carait

Etymology

From Old Irish carae, from Proto-Celtic *karants (“friend”), from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ros (“dear”) (compare Latin cārus, English charity, whore).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkarə/

Noun

cara

friend
coscc carat ― a friend's advice
relative

Declension

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cara, carait	carait, cairde
Vocative	cara, carait	cairde
Accusative	carait	cairdiu, cairde
Genitive	carat	carat, cairde
Dative	carait	cairdib

Derived terms

caratrad (“friendship, alliance”)

Descendants

Irish: cara
Scottish Gaelic: caraid
Manx: carrey

Mutation

Middle Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
cara	chara	cara pronounced with /ɡ(ʲ)-/
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Old English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkɑ.rɑ/

Verb

cara

singular imperative of carian

Old Javanese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /t͡ʃa.ra/
Rhymes: -ra
Homophone: cāra
Hyphenation: ca‧ra

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Sanskrit चर (cara, “wandering, walking, moving”).

Noun

cara

Derived terms

cara-cara

Descendants

>? Javanese: ꦕꦺꦴꦫꦺꦴ (coro)

Etymology 2

Noun

cara

Alternative spelling of cara, cāra, ācāra
Alternative spelling of cara, pacara, upacara, upacāra
Alternative spelling of caraṇa

Old Saxon

Noun

cara f

Alternative spelling of kara

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

𑀘𑀭 (Brahmi script)
चर (Devanagari script)
চর (Bengali script)
චර (Sinhalese script)
စရ or ၸရ (Burmese script)
จร or จะระ (Thai script)
ᨧᩁ (Tai Tham script)
ຈຣ or ຈະຣະ (Lao script)
ចរ (Khmer script)
𑄌𑄢 (Chakma script)

Noun

cara m

act of walking about, act of frequenting
one who walks about, one who frequents
messenger, spy

Declension

Declension table of "cara" (masculine)

Case \ Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	caro	carā
Accusative (second)	caraṃ	care
Instrumental (third)	carena	carehi or carebhi
Dative (fourth)	carassa or carāya or caratthaṃ	carānaṃ
Ablative (fifth)	carasmā or caramhā or carā	carehi or carebhi
Genitive (sixth)	carassa	carānaṃ
Locative (seventh)	carasmiṃ or caramhi or care	caresu
Vocative (calling)	cara	carā

Descendants

→ Thai: จร (jɔɔn, “to wander”)

Verb

cara

second-person singular imperative active of carati (“to walk”)

References

Pali Text Society (1921–1925) “cara”, in Pali-English Dictionary‎, London: Chipstead

Polish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈt͡sa.ra/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ara
Syllabification: ca‧ra

Noun

cara m pers

genitive/accusative singular of car

Portuguese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈka.ɾɐ/

Rhymes: -aɾɐ
Hyphenation: ca‧ra

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese cara, from Late Latin or Vulgar Latin cara, from Ancient Greek κάρα (kára, “head, face”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱrh₂esn.

Noun

cara f (plural caras)

face
Synonyms: face, rosto
heads (side of coin)
Synonym: anverso

Antonym: coroa

cara ou coroa ― head or tails
(informal) resemblance, appearance (perceived characteristic of a person, object or situation)
Synonym: pinta

Ele tem cara de idiota. ― He looks like an idiot.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:cara.

Derived terms

Noun

cara m (plural caras)

(Brazil, informal) man, fellow, guy and any adult male
Synonyms: bicho, camarada, cabra, tipo
- 2024 August 31, Jeniffer Gularte, Mariana Muniz, quoting Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, “Lula: Musk tem de respeitar decisão do STF”, in Diário do Pará, page B1:
  Esse país não é um país que tem uma sociedade com complexo de vira-lata, que o cara [Elon Musk] gritou e a gente fica com medo. Esse cara tem que aceitar as regras desse país.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Interjection

cara!

(Brazil, informal) man!; dude!

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:cara.

Etymology 2

From Latin cāra.

Adjective

cara

feminine singular of caro (“expensive, dear”)

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:caro.

Sardinian

Etymology

From Spanish cara and/or Catalan cara, both from Late Latin cara, from Ancient Greek κάρα (kára).

Noun

cara f (plural caras)

face

References

Wagner, Max Leopold (1960–1964) “kára”, in Dizionario etimologico sardo, Heidelberg

Sassarese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkara/

Etymology 1

Likely from Spanish and/or Catalan cara, both from Late Latin cara, from Ancient Greek κάρᾱ (kárā), from Proto-Hellenic *kárahə, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱérh₂sō (“top of the head/skull”), derived from the root *ḱerh₂- (“head, horn, top”).

Noun

cara f (plural cari) (rare)

face
Synonym: fàccia
- 1957, Salvator Ruju, “Li candaréri [The candlesticks]”, in Sassari véccia e nóba [Old and new Sassari]; republished as Caterina Ruju, editor, Sassari véccia e nóba, Nuoro: Ilisso edizioni, 2001, →ISBN, page 144:
  Ma la più bèdda còsa, li baggiani
  di cara bruna, d’ócci risurani.
  But the most beautiful thing, [is] the brown-faced young girls with smiling eyes.
  (literally, “But the most beautiful thing, [are] the young girls of brown face, of smiling eyes.”)
countenance
Synonyms: fàccia, chiza

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish cala, of unknown origin.

Alternative forms

cala (Sedini)

Noun

cara f (plural cari)

inlet, cove

References

Ugo Solinas (2016) Vocabolario sassarese-italiano fraseologico ed etimologico, volume 1, Sestu: Domus de Janas, →ISBN, page 318
Giosue Muzzo (1981) Vocabolario del dialetto sassarese, Chiarella Editore, →ISBN; republished, Sassari: Carlo Delfino editore, 2018, page 55
Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes

Spanish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾa/ [ˈka.ɾa]
Audio (Latin America): (file)
Rhymes: -aɾa
Syllabification: ca‧ra

Etymology 1

Inherited from Late Latin or Vulgar Latin cara, from Ancient Greek κάρα (kára, “head, face”).

Noun

cara f (plural caras)

(anatomy) face (the front part of the head)
Synonyms: rostro, haz
face (one's facial expression)
face (the frontal aspect of something)
Synonyms: frente, fachada
(colloquial) gall, nerve (impudence)
(geometry) face (any of the flat bounding surfaces of a polyhedron)
side (of paper, a card, a coin)
heads (side of a coin)
Synonym: anverso

Antonyms: cruz, (Argentina) ceca

Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

cara

feminine singular of caro

Venetan

Adjective

cara

feminine singular of caro

Welsh

Alternative forms

câr (literary, third-person singular present/future)
caraf (first-person singular future)
cariff (colloquial, third-person singular future)
carith (colloquial, third-person singular future)

Pronunciation

(North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈkara/
(South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈkaːra/, /ˈkara/

Verb

cara

inflection of caru:

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
cara	gara	nghara	chara
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

[1] Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 cara”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

[2] Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 36, page 20

[1]

[2]

cara

Aragonese

Etymology

Noun

References

Asturian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Catalan

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Adjective

Further reading

Crimean Tatar

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

French

Pronunciation

Verb

Galician

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

Preposition

Etymology 2

Adjective

Further reading

References

Indonesian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Related terms

Further reading

Irish

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Mutation

References

Further reading

Italian

Pronunciation

Adjective

Noun

Anagrams

Javanese

Romanization

Latin

Etymology 1

Adjective

Adjective

Etymology 2

Noun

Declension

Descendants

See also

Further reading

Latvian

Noun

Malay

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Descendants

Further reading

Middle Irish

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation