Etymology

carefree

care·free
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Today it means: Without cares or worries; free of concern or worries; without difficulty. Full definition →

Old English frēo ← Proto-West Germanic *friu ← Proto-Germanic *frijwaz
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵeh₂r-
  2. Proto-Germanic*karō
  3. Proto-West Germanic*karu
  4. Old Englishcaru
  5. Middle Englishcare
  6. Englishcare
  7. Proto-Indo-European*preyH-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*priHós
  9. Proto-Germanic*frijwaz
  10. Proto-West Germanic*friu
  11. Old Englishfrēo
  12. English todaycarefree

From care + -free.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.