Etymologically
Log in

cauldron

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 06:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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.

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