LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininethird declension

cāritās

cāritās f (genitive cāritātis)
Classical[ˈkaː.rɪ.taːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈkaː.ri.tas]

Meaning

  1. dearness
  2. costliness, high price
  3. especiallycharity, love, attitude of kindness
  4. regard, esteem, affection, love
  5. lack of something, deficiency, dearth

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

amor tener mūtuus
cāritās -ātis (f) — in Aeneis, ch. 20

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativecāritāscāritātēs
charitātēs, karitātēs
genitivecāritātis
charitātis, karitātis		cāritātum
charitātum, karitātum
dativecāritātī
charitātī, karitātī		cāritātibus
charitātibus, karitātibus
accusativecāritātem
charitātem, karitātem		cāritātēs
charitātēs, karitātēs
ablativecāritāte
charitāte, karitāte		cāritātibus
charitātibus, karitātibus
vocativecāritāscāritātēs
charitātēs, karitātēs

cārĭtas, ātis, f. carus.
I. Prop., dearness, costliness, high price, etc. (opp. vilitas): annonae, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 18, § 47; 2, 3, 92, § 215; id. Off. 3, 12, 50; Liv. 44, 7, 10; Suet. Ner. 45: rei frumentariae (opp. vilitas annonae), Cic. Imp. Pomp. 15, 44: nummorum, id. Att. 9, 9, 4: olei, Plin. 18, 28, 68, § 273: vini, Suet. Aug. 42.—Also absol. caritas (sc. annonae), high prices, Cato, R. R. 3: ut tum vendas cum caritas est, Varr. R. R. 1, 69: cum alter annus in vilitate, alter in summā caritate fuerit, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 93, § 216; id. Off. 2, 17, 58.—
II. Trop., regard, esteem, affection, love (cf. amor, I.; in good prose; syn.: benevolentia, favor, studium): cum deorum tum parentum patriaeque cultus eorumque hominum, qui aut sapientiā aut opibus excellunt, ad caritatem referri solet: conjuges autem et liberi, et fratres et alii, quos usus familiaritasque conjunxit, quamquam etiam caritate ipsā, tamen amore maxime continentur, Cic. Part. Or. 25, 88; hence, opp. amor, as esteem to personal affection: si id videare, quod sit utile ipsis, defendere... haec res amorem magis conciliat, illa virtutis defensio caritatem, id. de Or. 2, 51, 206; cf. Treb. ap. id. Fam. 12, 16, 2; Liv. 24, 4, 8: ut qui pacem belli amore turbaverant, bellum pacis caritate deponerent, Tac. H. 2, 37: amor πάθος, caritas ἦθος, Quint. 6, 2, 12: caritas, quae est inter natos et parentes, Cic. Lael. 8, 27; Quint. prooem. § 6: liberalitate qui utuntur benevolentiam sibi conciliant et caritatem, id. Fin. 1, 16, 52; id. Lael. 27, 102; Quint. 11, 1, 72: ingenita erga patriam caritas, Liv. 1, 34, 5: retinere caritatem in aliquem, Cic. Lael. 19, 70: sanguine et caritate propior, Tac. A. 6, 46: caritatem paraverat loco auctoritatis, id. Agr. 16 fin.— The subjoined gen. is usu. objective: patriae et suorum, Cic. Off. 3, 27, 100; id. Sest. 24, 53; Nep. Alcib. 5, 1: rei publicae, Cic. Phil. 12, 8, 20; Liv. 2, 2, 5: domini, id. 1, 51, 8: Syracusanorum, id. 25, 28, 7: Hieronis, id. 24, 5, 1: liberum, id. 8, 7, 18: filiae, Tac. A. 12, 4: ipsius soli, Liv. 2, 1, 5: sedium suarum, id. 5, 42, 2; Quint. 6, 2, 14.—But sometimes also subjective, love entertained by one: hominum, deorum, Cic. N. D. 1, 44, 122; id. de Or. 2, 58, 237: civium, id. Phil. 1, 12, 29; Liv. 24, 4, 8 (with amor); or, more rarely, of the cause or ground of the love: caritas illius necessitudinis, Cic. Sest. 3, 6: benevolentiae, id. Lael. 9, 32.—In plur. of the different species of affection: omnes omnium caritates patria una complexa est, Cic. Off. 1, 17, 57; id. Fin. 3, 22, 73: liberum, App. M. 5, p. 171.—
B. In late Lat., meton., caritates = cari, the loved persons, Amm. 18, 8, 14; 24, 1, 9.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*keh₂-
  2. Proto-Italic*kāros
  3. Latincāritās

Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin cāritās From cārus (“dear, expensive”) + -tās.

Elsewhere
  • Italiancarità
  • Frenchcharitéfrom Old French charité
  • Englishcharityfrom Old French charité
  • Frenchchertéfrom Old French cherté
  • Catalancaritatfrom Old Occitan caritat
  • Occitancaritatfrom Old Occitan caritat
  • Romaniancaritate
  • Spanishcaridad
  • Liguriancaitæ
  • Middle Englishchiertefrom Old French cherté
Old Galician-Portuguese
  • Portuguesecaridade
  • Galiciancaridade

In English words that came into English from cāritās

  • charitycāritās
  • caritativecāritās

Quick answers

What does cāritās mean in Latin?
cāritās, a noun, means “dearness; costliness, high price; charity, love, attitude of kindness”.
What is the genitive of cāritās?
The genitive singular is cāritātis. cāritās is feminine, third declension.
How do you pronounce cāritās?
In classical Latin, [ˈkaː.rɪ.taːs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈkaː.ri.tas].
Where does cāritās come from?
Proto-Indo-European *keh₂- → Proto-Italic *kāros → Latin cāritās.