Meanings
caries1
nouncaries (usually uncountable, plural caries)
- uncountableusuallyThe progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay.
caries2
verb
- indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of cary
Synonyms & antonyms
nounEllipsis of dental caries (“tooth decay”).
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nounsoft decayed area in a tooth; progressive decay can lead to the death of a tooth
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱes-der.?
- Proto-Italic*kazēō
- Latincareō
- Latincariēs
- Englishcaries
Borrowed from Latin cariēs.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَسَوُّس
- تَسَوُّس (tasawwus)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Bulgarian ка́риес
- ка́риес (káries)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Chinese Mandarin 齲齒 /龋齿, 蛀牙
- 齲齒 /龋齿 (qǔchǐ)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- 蛀牙 (zhùyá)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- 蟲牙 /虫牙 (chóngyá)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Czech kaz, zubní kaz
- kazprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- zubní kazprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Danish karies, caries
- kariesprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- cariesprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Dutch cariës, tandbederf
- cariësprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- tandbederfprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- gaatjesprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Estonian kaaries
- kaariesprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Finnish karies, hammasmätä
- kariesprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- hammasmätäprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
French carie
- carieprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
German Karies
- Kariesprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Greek τερηδόνα
- τερηδόνα (teridóna)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Hebrew עַשֶּׁשֶׁת
- עַשֶּׁשֶׁת ('ashéshet)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Hungarian fogszuvasodás
- fogszuvasodásprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Japanese 齲蝕, う蝕
- 齲蝕 (ushoku)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- う蝕 (ushoku)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- カリエス (kariesu)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- 虫歯 (mushiba)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Korean 충치, 카리에스
- 충치 (chungchi)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- 카리에스 (karieseu)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Norwegian Bokmål karies
- kariesprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Polish próchnica
- próchnicaprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Portuguese cárie
- cárieprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Russian ка́риес, ка́риес зубо́в
- ка́риес (kárijes)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- ка́риес зубо́в (kárijes zubóv)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Spanish caries
- cariesprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Swahili karisi
- karisiprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Swedish karies
- kariesprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Tagalog karyes
- karyesprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Thai ฟันผุ
- ฟันผุprogressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Ukrainian ка́рієс, каріо́з
- ка́рієс (kárijes)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
- каріо́з (karióz)progressive destruction of bone or tooth by decay
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with caries
All rhymes →Sounds the same
carrieskarris (Mary–marry–merry merger, happy-tensing)
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
caries. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caries
MLA
“caries.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caries. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “caries,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caries.
Source: caries on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.