cauldron

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkɔːl.dɹən/, /ˈkəʊl.dɹən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English caudron,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman cauderon,^[2][3][4] a diminutive or augmentative of caudere “basin”,^[2][3][4] from Late Latin caldāria (“cooking pot”),^[2][3][4] from Latin caldārius “used for hot water”,^[2][3] from calidus “warm”,^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *kele- (“warm”).^[3] The -l- was inserted in the 15th century in imitation of Latin.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A large kettle or boiler (c1300).^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

From the cooking pot the word was transferred to natural formations shaped like a cauldron or with seething water (1413),^[5] and figuratively to any situation of intense agitation.^[2][1] The spelling caldron remains a variant, preferred by the American Heritage Dictionary.^[6][4]

Timeline

• c1300 – a large kettle or boiler.^[5][3]
• 1413 – a natural formation like a cauldron.^[5]
• 1791 – verb, to put into a cauldron.^[5]
• 1909 – (geology) cauldron subsidence.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A large kettle or boiler, used over an open fire.
2. Something resembling a boiling cauldron in its violence or agitation.

Related words

• calorie
• chowder
• caldera
• scald
• coddle

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin