From Latin 'carus' (dear), from PIE *keh2- (to desire) — same root as 'charity' and, through Germanic, 'whore.'
To protect and care for someone lovingly; to hold something dear.
From Old French 'cheriss-' (the lengthened stem of 'cherir,' to hold dear, to treat with affection), from 'cher' (dear, beloved, costly), from Latin 'cārus' (dear, beloved, valued, costly), from PIE *keh₂- (to desire, to like, to wish for). The same PIE root *keh₂- also produced Latin 'cāritās' (dearness, high price, love — whence English 'charity'), and — through Germanic *hōraz — the archaic English word 'whore' (one who is desired), which is therefore a distant and ironic cognate of 'cherish.' The semantic journey of 'cherish' in English