carissimus

Latin

Etymology

carus +‎ -issimus

Adjective

cārissimus (feminine cārissima, neuter cārissimum); first/second declension

1. superlative degree of cārus
2. 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.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	cārissimus	cārissima	cārissimum		cārissimī	cārissimae	cārissima
Genitive	cārissimī	cārissimae	cārissimī		cārissimōrum	cārissimārum	cārissimōrum
Dative	cārissimō		cārissimō		cārissimīs
Accusative	cārissimum	cārissimam	cārissimum		cārissimōs	cārissimās	cārissima
Ablative	cārissimō	cārissimā	cārissimō		cārissimīs
Vocative	cārissime	cārissima	cārissimum		cārissimī	cārissimae	cārissima

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^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • my dear father: pater optime or carissime, mi pater (vid. sect. XII. 10)