caregiver
Americannoun
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caregivers
plural
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a person who cares for someone who is sick or disabled.
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an adult who cares for an infant or child.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of caregiver
First recorded in 1980–85; care + giver ( def. )
Explanation
Someone who takes care of a very young, elderly, or ill person is called a caregiver. If you make sure your ailing friend eats every day and is relatively comfortable, you are her caregiver. Being a caregiver is sometimes a paying job — a home health aid and a nurse in a hospital both work as caregivers. When a family member is ill, you may become a temporary caregiver, bringing hot soup and warm blankets. In Britain, this person is called a carer. Both words come from the Old English carian, "to feel concern" and also "to grieve."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Struggling to repay loans, she moved to Hong Kong to work as a domestic caregiver looking after elderly people and children.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
You don’t have to make accusations about his caregiver misappropriating funds.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
A caregiver wore a protective gown and gloves as she bottle-fed a baby -- one of hundreds of children orphaned by the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
"Many children have lost both their father and mother because of Ebola," Marie Bakikula, a caregiver at a UNICEF-supported nursery in Mongbwalu, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
Though the cubs grow to become larger than their caregiver, and far more dangerous, they never give their mother trouble and she never loses her placid behaviour or her sense of authority over her litter.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Earlier, attendants and nurses were seen as an addition to family caregivers.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
The challenge of helping little ones process the trauma is acute for caregivers of children with special needs.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
For instance, the system uses recognizable sounds, known as auditory icons, to tell caregivers what the problem is, so they can distinguish it immediately.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
I helped organize their finances so I could pay their caregivers and monthly bills.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
I mean, like in many cultures, men were viewed as warriors and women were viewed as caregivers.
From "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
