Adjacent Words

Concern definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CONCERN, v.t. [L., to separate, sift, divide; to see. If this is the true origin, as I suppose, the primary sense is, to reach or extend to, or to look to, as we use regard.]
1. To relate or belong to.
Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 28.
2. To relate or belong to, in an emphatical manner; to affect the interest of; to be of importance to.
Our wars with France have affected us in our most tender interests, and concerned us more than those with any other nation.
It much concerns us to secure the favor and protection of God.
3. To interest of affect the passions; to take an interest in; to engage by feeling or sentiment.
A good prince concerns himself in the happiness of his subjects. A kind parent concerns himself in the virtuous education of his children. They
They think themselves out of the reach of Providence, and no longer concerned to solicit his favor.
4. To disturb; to make uneasy. [Little used.]
5. To intermeddle.
We need not concern ourselves with the affairs of our neighbors.
CONCERN, n.
1. That which relates or belongs to one; business; affair; a very general term, expressing whatever occupies the time and attention, or affects the interests of a person. Intermeddle not in the private concerns of a family. Religion is the main concern of a rational being. We have no concern in the private quarrels of our neighbors. The industrious and prudent occupy their time with their own concerns.
2. Interest; importance; moment; that which affects the welfare or happiness.
To live in peace, is a matter of no small concern to a nation.
Mysterious secrets of a high concern, and weighty truths, solid convincing sense, explained by unaffected eloquence.
3. Affection; regard; careful regard; solicitude; anziety.
Why all this concern for the poor things of this life?
O Marcia, let me hope thy kind concerns, and gentle wishes, follow me to battle.
An impenitent man feels no concern for his soul.
4. Persons connected in business; or their affairs in general; as a debt due to the whole concern; a loss affecting the whole concern. Mercantile Usage.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: something that interests you because it is important or affects you; "the safety of the ship is the captain's concern"
2: an anxious feeling; "care had aged him"; "they hushed it up out of fear of public reaction" [syn: concern, care, fear]
3: a feeling of sympathy for someone or something; "She felt strong concern for those less fortunate" [ant: unconcern]
4: something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness; "New York traffic is a constant concern"; "it's a major worry" [syn: concern, worry, headache, vexation]
5: a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it; "he bought his brother's business"; "a small mom-and-pop business"; "a racially integrated business concern" [syn: business, concern, business concern, business organization, business organisation] v
1: be relevant to; "There were lots of questions referring to her talk"; "My remark pertained to your earlier comments" [syn: refer, pertain, relate, concern, come to, bear on, touch, touch on, have-to doe with]
2: be on the mind of; "I worry about the second Germanic consonant shift" [syn: concern, interest, occupy, worry]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French & Medieval Latin; Middle French concerner, from Medieval Latin concernere, from Late Latin, to sift together, mingle, from Latin com- + cernere to sift — more at certain Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. a. to relate to ; be about <the novel concerns three soldiers> b. to bear on 2. to have an influence on ; involve; also to be the business or affair of <the problem concerns us all> 3. to be a care, trouble, or distress to <her ill health concerns me> 4. engage, occupy <he concerns himself with trivia> intransitive verb obsolete to be of importance ; matter II. noun Date: 1655 1. a. marked interest or regard usually arising through a personal tie or relationship b. an uneasy state of blended interest, uncertainty, and apprehension 2. something that relates or belongs to one ; affair <it's no concern of yours> 3. matter for consideration 4. an organization or establishment for business or manufacture <a banking concern> 5. contrivance, gadget Synonyms: see care

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. 1 a be relevant or important to (this concerns you). b relate to; be about. 2 (usu. refl.; often foll. by with, in, about, or to + infin.) interest or involve oneself (don't concern yourself with my problems). 3 worry, affect (it concerns me that he is always late). --n. 1 anxiety, worry (felt a deep concern). 2 a a matter of interest or importance to one (no concern of mine). b (usu. in pl.) affairs, private business (meddling in my concerns). 3 a business, a firm (quite a prosperous concern). 4 colloq. a complicated or awkward thing (have lost the whole concern). Phrases and idioms: have a concern in have an interest or share in. have no concern with have nothing to do with. to whom it may concern to those who have a proper interest in the matter (as an address to the reader of a testimonial, reference, etc.). Etymology: F concerner or LL concernere (as com-, cernere sift, discern)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Going Go"ing, p. pr. of Go. Specif.: (a) That goes; in existence; available for present use or enjoyment; current; obtainable; also, moving; working; in operation; departing; as, he is of the brightest men going; going prices or rate. (b) Carrying on its ordinary business; conducting business, or carried on, with an indefinite prospect of continuance; -- chiefly used in the phrases a going business, concern, etc. (c) Of or pert. to a going business or concern; as, the going value of a company.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Concern Con*cern", n. 1. That which relates or belongs to one; business; affair. The private concerns of fanilies. --Addison. 2. That which affects the welfare or happiness; interest; moment. Mysterious secrets of a high concern. --Roscommon. 3. Interest in, or care for, any person or thing; regard; solicitude; anxiety. O Marcia, let me hope thy kind concerns And gentle wishes follow me to battle. --Addison. 4. (Com.) Persons connected in business; a firm and its business; as, a banking concern. The whole concern, all connected with a particular affair or business. Syn: Care; anxiety; solicitude; interest; regard; business; affair; matter; moment. See Care.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Concern Con*cern", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Concerned; p. pr. & vb. n. Concerning.] [F. concerner, LL. concernere to regard, concern, fr. L. concernere to mix or mingle together, as in a sieve for separating; con- + cernere to separate, sift, distinguish by the senses, and especially by the eyes, to perceive, see. See Certain.] 1. To relate or belong to; to have reference to or connection with; to affect the interest of; to be of importance to. Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ. --Acts xxviii. 31. Our wars with France have affected us in our most tender interests, and concerned us more than those with any other nation. --Addison. It much concerns a preacher first to learn The genius of his audience and their turn. --Dodsley. Ignorant, so far as the usual instruction is concerned. --J. F. Cooper. 2. To engage by feeling or sentiment; to interest; as, a good prince concerns himself in the happiness of his subjects. They think themselves out the reach of Providence, and no longer concerned to solicit his favor. --Rogers.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Concern Con*cern", v. i. To be of importance. [Obs.] Which to deny concerns more than avails. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(concerns, concerning, concerned) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. Concern is worry about a situation. The group has expressed concern about reports of political violence in Africa... The move follows growing public concern over the spread of the disease... There is no cause for concern. N-UNCOUNT: oft N prep, N that 2. If something concerns you, it worries you. The growing number of people seeking refuge in Thailand is beginning to concern Western aid agencies... It concerned her that Bess was developing a crush on Max. VERB: no cont, V n, it V n that • concerned Academics and employers are deeply concerned that students are not sufficiently prepared mathematically for university courses. ...a phone call from a concerned neighbor. ADJ: usu v-link ADJ, oft ADJ about/for n, ADJ that 3. A concern is a fact or situation that worries you. His concern was that people would know that he was responsible... Unemployment was the electorate's main concern. = worry N-COUNT: usu with poss 4. Someone's concern with something is their feeling that it is important. ...a story that illustrates how dangerous excessive concern with safety can be. N-VAR: oft N with n 5. Someone's concerns are the things that they consider to be important. Feminism must address issues beyond the concerns of middle-class whites. N-COUNT: usu with poss 6. Concern for someone is a feeling that you want them to be happy, safe, and well. If you do something out of concern for someone, you do it because you want them to be happy, safe, and well. Without her care and concern, he had no chance at all... He had only gone along out of concern for his two grandsons. N-VAR: oft poss N 7. If you concern yourself with something, you give it attention because you think that it is important. I didn't concern myself with politics... VERB: V pron-refl with n • concerned The agency is more concerned with making arty ads than understanding its clients' businesses. ADJ: v-link ADJ with n 8. If something such as a book or a piece of information concerns a particular subject, it is about that subject. The bulk of the book concerns Sandy's two middle-aged children... Chapter 2 concerns itself with the methodological difficulties. VERB: no cont, V n, V pron-refl with n • concerned Randolph's work was exclusively concerned with the effects of pollution on health. ADJ: v-link ADJ with n 9. If a situation, event, or activity concerns you, it affects or involves you. It was just a little unfinished business from my past, and it doesn't concern you at all. VERB: no cont, V n • concerned It's a very stressful situation for everyone concerned... I believe he was concerned in all those matters you mention. ADJ: n ADJ, v-link ADJ in/with n 10. If a situation or problem is your concern, it is something that you have a duty or responsibility to be involved with. The technical aspects were the concern of the Army... I would be glad to get rid of them myself. But that is not our concern. = affair, business N-SING: with poss 11. You can refer to a company or business as a concern, usually when you are describing what type of company or business it is. (FORMAL BUSINESS) If not a large concern, Queensbury Nursery was at least a successful one. N-COUNT: oft supp N 12. You can say 'as far as I'm concerned' to indicate that you are giving your own opinion. As far as I'm concerned the officials incited the fight. PHRASE: PHR with cl 13. You can say as far as something is concerned to indicate the subject that you are talking about. As far as starting a family is concerned, the trend is for women having their children later in life. PHRASE: PHR with cl 14. If a company is a going concern, it is actually doing business, rather than having stopped trading or not yet having started trading. (BUSINESS) The receivers will always prefer to sell a business as a going concern. PHRASE: N inflects, oft as PHR, v-link PHR 15. If something is of concern to someone, they find it worrying and unsatisfactory. Any injury to a child is a cause of great concern to us... The survey's findings are a matter of great concern. PHRASE: oft PHR to n 16. If something is of concern to you, it is important to you. How they are paid should be of little concern to the bank as long as they are paid. PHRASE: oft PHR to n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Affect, interest, touch, regard, relate to, belong to, pertain to, bear upon, be of importance to. 2. Trouble, disturb, disquiet, make anxious, make uneasy. II. n. 1. Matter, business, affair, transaction. 2. Importance, interest, moment, consequence, weight, concernment. 3. Anxiety, solicitude, care, carefulness. 4. Firm, house, establishment.

Moby Thesaurus

Aktiengesellschaft, TLC, absorb, academic discipline, academic specialty, accent, accommodatingness, activities, activity, affair, affairs, affect, affect the interest, agency, agitate, agitation, agreeableness, ail, aktiebolag, all-overs, angst, answer to, anticipation, anxiety, anxiety hysteria, anxiety neurosis, anxious bench, anxious concern, anxious seat, anxiousness, appertain to, applicability, application, applied science, apply to, appositeness, apprehension, apprehensiveness, area, arena, art, atelier, attention, attentiveness, attract, awareness, bag, barbershop, basis, be about, be the matter, bear on, bear upon, bearing, beauty parlor, beauty shop, belong to, bench, beset, body corporate, bother, burden, business, business establishment, butcher shop, cankerworm of care, care, carefulness, caring, cartel, case, catch up in, cathexis, caution, chamber of commerce, chapter, charge, chord, circumspection, circumspectness, combine, commerce, commercial enterprise, compagnie, company, complaisance, complicate matters, concernment, conglomerate, conglomerate corporation, connect, connection, consciousness, consequence, consequentiality, considerateness, consideration, consolidating company, consortium, copartnership, corporate body, corporation, correspond to, curiosity, deal with, delicacy, department of knowledge, desk, discipline, discommode, disquiet, disquietude, distress, disturb, disturbance, diversified corporation, doing, domain, doubt, draw in, dread, dubiety, duty, echo, embarrass, empathy, emphasis, employ, employment, engage, enmesh, entangle, enterprise, enthusiasm, essence, establishment, excellence, excite, excite interest, facility, faltering, fascinate, fear, fellow feeling, field, field of inquiry, field of study, firm, focus of attention, focus of interest, foreboding, forebodingness, forethought, frazzle, function, germaneness, gimmick, gist, give concern, gizmo, harass, have connection with, head, heading, heed, heedfulness, helpfulness, high order, high rank, holding company, house, identification, implicate, import, importance, incertitude, inconvenience, indulgence, industry, inquietude, installation, institution, interest, interestedness, invite, involve, involve in, involvement, irk, irresolution, issue, jigger, job, joint-stock association, joint-stock company, labor, leniency, liaise with, link with, living issue, loft, lookout, loving care, main point, malaise, mark, materiality, matter, matter in hand, matter of interest, meat, merit, mindfulness, misgiving, mistrust, moment, motif, motive, natural science, nervous strain, nervous tension, nervousness, note, obligingness, occasions, occupation, ology, operating company, organization, outfit, overanxiety, palaver, paramountcy, parlor, partnership, passion, pathos, perplex, pertain to, pertinence, perturb, perturbation, pins and needles, pique, plague, plunderbund, point, point at issue, point in question, pool, pother, precedence, preeminence, preparedness, primacy, priority, problem, proceeding, province, provoke, public utility, pucker, pure science, put out, put to it, puzzle, question, refer to, reference, regard, regardfulness, relate to, relatedness, relating, relevance, respect, response, responsibility, responsiveness, rubric, science, self-importance, service, sharing, shop, shtick, significance, skepticism, social science, solicitousness, solicitude, special interest, specialty, sphere, stew, stimulate, stock company, strain, stress, studio, study, subject, subject matter, subject of thought, substance, suck into, superiority, supremacy, suspense, suspicion, sweatshop, sympathetic chord, sympathetic response, sympathy, syndicate, tact, tactfulness, tangle, tantalize, task, technicology, technics, technology, tender loving care, tension, text, theme, thing, thought, thoughtfulness, tickle, tie in with, titillate, toleration, topic, torment, touch, touch on, touch upon, trade association, transaction, treat of, trouble, trust, undertaking, unease, uneasiness, unquietness, unsettle, upset, utility, value, vex, vexation, vibes, vibrations, weight, widget, wonder, work, work site, work space, workbench, workhouse, working space, workplace, workroom, workshop, worktable, worry, worth, zeal