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Latin
Etymology
carus + -issimus
Adjective
cārissimus (feminine cārissima, neuter cārissimum); first/second declension
- superlative degree of cārus
- used as a term of endearment
c. 35 CE – 100 CE,
Quintilian,
Institutio Oratoria 9.2.34:
- Ut dicta autem quaedam, ita scrīpta quoque fingī solent, quod facit Asinius prō Liburniā: "māter mea, quae mihi cum cārissima tum dulcissima fuit "
- Just as certain speeches, writings are also sometimes imaginary, as for example Asinius does in his defence of Liburnia, "my mother, who was my dearest and most beloved "
747 CE, Boniface,
Epistulae 78, (quoted by Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources):
- propterea, carissimi, ... putamus vos libentius scire velle quam nescire
- therefore, my esteemed listeners, ... I think that you all prefer to know than not to know
Declension
First/second-declension adjective.
References
- carissimus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- carissimus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- my dear father: pater optime or carissime, mi pater (vid. sect. XII. 10)