cal

Forms

cal f (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin cals, the nominative found beside classical calx (“lime, limestone”).^[2][3][1] This nominative is attested in Varro.^[4] Coromines regards the Spanish word as the Hispanic form of the Latin one, shared by Spanish and Portuguese and probably by Mozarabic; in Catalan it survives only in place names and in the adjective calar (“of limestone”).^[5] The REW instead takes the Spanish and Portuguese word from Catalan.^[6]

The same Latin word is Catalan calç, Portuguese cal, Galician cal, Asturian cal, French chaux and Italian calce.^[6][5][7] A different Latin word of the same form, meaning “heel”, is the source of coz “kick”.^[6][4]

The Latin word is probably a loan from Ancient Greek χάλιξ (khálix, “small stone, gravel, rubble”), although both words may have been taken independently from another Mediterranean language.^[4][8][9] Beekes finds no convincing Indo-European etymology for the Greek word.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Libro de Alexandre (c. 1240–1250) uses it for the building material at the tower of Babel, when the builders no longer understood one another: si el uno demandaua agua, el otro daua cal “if one asked for water, the other handed him lime”.^[10] The Fuero de Cáceres has the labourers of the castle work si cal ouieren a farto “if they have lime enough”, and Alfonso X's Lapidario names the stone de que fazen la cal.^[11][12] The BDELC dates the word about 1250.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Covarrubias (1611) described lime as burnt stone that crumbles into powder and, mixed with sand, binds the stones of a building; he recorded cal viva “quicklime” and obra de cal y canto, a solid masonry of lime and stone.^[13] The phrase de cal y canto was already used in the Americas in 1513.^[14] The Academy's 1817 edition explained lime chemically, by the loss of water and carbonic acid in the fire, and the 1869 edition added the chemists' sense “metallic oxide”.^[15][16] Since 1899 the Academy has defined it as calcium oxide.^[17][3]

The old use of cal for calcium in the names of compounds, such as sulfato de cal for gypsum, is now marked as out of use.^[3] Phrases such as cerrar a cal y canto “to shut tight” and una de cal y otra de arena “now good, now bad” have become idioms.^[18]

Timeline

• 1240–1250 – the Libro de Alexandre uses cal for the builders' lime.^[10]
• c. 1250 – first record in the BDELC;^[12] Alfonso X's Lapidario speaks of the stone from which lime is made.^[2][12]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija defines cal as burnt stones and gives Latin calx.^[19]
• 1513 – first record in the Americas: walls de cal e canto in Tierra Firme.^[14]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records cal viva and obra de cal y canto.^[13]
• 1729 – Autoridades lists cal “street” of Seville before cal “lime”.^[20]
• 1899 – the Academy defines it as calcium oxide.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. lime, quicklime: calcium oxide, a white or greyish alkaline substance that gives off heat when slaked with water and, mixed with sand, forms mortar (mortero): Blanquearon la fachada con cal.^[3][1]
2. (alchemy) Any metallic oxide or slag (escoria).^[3][18]
3. (obsolete) Calcium (calcio), in the names of some of its compounds, as sulfato de cal for gypsum.^[3]

Word family

• caleño
• calera
• calería
• calero
• caliche
• calizo
• caliza
• encalar
• calicanto

Related words

• calcio
• calcinar
• calcáreo
• Latin calx
• Catalan calç

Usage notes

Cal viva is quicklime and cal apagada or cal muerta slaked lime;^[18] a cal y canto means “completely, tightly” and una de cal y otra de arena “one good thing and one bad”.^[3][18] A separate obsolete cal “street”, from Latin callis, is a shortened form of calle, still used in Seville in names such as Cal de Francos in the 18th century.^[20][21][1] As a symbol, cal stands for the calorie (caloría).^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cal
3. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. cal
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 2, 411
6. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. cal
8. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Alonso Pedraz, Martín (1986), Diccionario medieval español: desde las Glosas Emilianenses y Silenses (s. X) hasta el siglo XV, 2 vols., Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, p. 581
11. ^ Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE
12. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. cal
13. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 378
14. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. cal
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 158
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 133
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 172
18. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. cal
19. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 308
20. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 52
21. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)