Etymology

carelessness

care·less·ness
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Today it means: Lack of care; the state or quality of being careless. Full definition →

Middle English *carelesnes ← Old English carlēasnes ← Proto-Germanic *lausaz
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵeh₂r-
  2. Proto-Germanic*karō
  3. Proto-West Germanic*karu
  4. Old Englishcaru
  5. Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
  7. Proto-Germanic*leusaną
  8. Proto-Germanic*lausaz
  9. Old Englishcarlēas
  10. Old Englishcarlēasnes
  11. Middle English*carelesnes
  12. English todaycarelessness

From Middle English *carelesnes, *carlesnesse, from Old English carlēasnes (“freedom from care, security, carelessness”), equivalent to careless + -ness.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.