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Etymology and origin of the French word cale

cale1 hold of a ship; slipway

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1200s early 13th century, Folie Tristan de Berne (disputed reading)
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek χαλάω

Pronunciation

Forms

cale f (plural cales)[1]

Etymology

The word for the ship's hold is a back-formation from French caler (“to go down, sink”), the goods being lowered into the hold.[2][3][4][1] The TLFi thinks it possible that it passed through Occitan calo, a noun from calar (“to lower”), although the Occitan noun is not recorded in these senses before Mistral;[2][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg take it from the Occitan word, and the Grand Robert gives both explanations for the sense “sloping quay”.[2][5][6] The TLFi rejects an Italian source, since Italian cala in these senses is recorded only from the 19th century and is itself probably a borrowing from French.[2]

The verb itself, first a sailors' word for lowering a sail, is from Old Occitan calar (“to lower”), which kept a seafaring word of the Greeks, Ancient Greek χαλάω (khaláō, “to slacken, lower the mast”).[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fonz de cale “bottom of the hold” is read in the Folie Tristan de Berne in the early 13th century, but this is Tobler's correction of the manuscript's fale, which Bédier and others dispute; the next certain record is from 1671 (Pomey).[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word names the lowest part inside a ship's hull, where the cargo is stowed, and in particular each compartment of it;[2][4][7] à fond de cale “at the bottom of the hold” gave the familiar être à fond de cale, to be penniless.[2][4][7] A sloping place one goes up and down without steps is recorded in 1694, and the sloping part of a quay for loading in 1700; the inclined slipway on which ships are built or repaired is from 1751.[2][3][4]

In the old naval penal code la cale was the punishment of hanging a sailor from the main yard and dropping him several times into the sea, abolished in 1848; the Grand Robert doubts this sense of “immersion”.[2][3][6] In cod fishing the name was also given to the lead weight above the hook.[2]

Timeline

  • Early 13th century – Fonz de cale in the Folie Tristan de Berne, a disputed reading.[2]
  • 1671 – First certain record, in Pomey.[2][5]
  • 1694 – Thomas Corneille defines it as a sloping place without steps.[2]
  • 1700 – Used of the sloping part of a quay for loading.[2][3]
  • 1751 – Used of the slipway for building and repairing ships.[4][3]
  • 1845 – The noun calier, the sailor in charge of the hold, is attested.[3]
  • 1848 – The punishment of la cale is abolished.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The hold of a ship, the space between the lowest deck and the bottom: à fond de cale.[4][2][7]
  2. A compartment of the hold: cale à charbon.[4][8]
  3. (figurative, familiar) Être à fond de cale: to be broke.[4][2][7]
  4. The sloping part of a quai, used for loading or hauling boats.[4][2]
  5. An inclined slipway for building or repairing ships: cale sèche, a dry dock.[4][2][7]
  6. (historical) A naval punishment of repeated immersion in the sea from the yardarm: donner la cale.[2][7]
  7. (fishing) A lead weight fixed above the hook on a cod line.[2]

Word family

  • calier

cale2 wedge

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1611 Cotgrave
Borrowed from
German Keil
Ultimate origin
German Keil

Pronunciation

Forms

cale f (plural cales)[1]

Etymology

The word for a wedge is probably borrowed from German Keil (“wedge”), perhaps through the Germanic dialect of the Moselle, where the diphthong was reduced to /a/.[2][3][8][4][1][9] Bloch and Wartburg note that the German word was pronounced with /ai/.[5] Rey traces it to Old High German kīl, from a Germanic root that took the sense “to split”.[3] The view that it is a back-formation from the verb caler (Meyer-Lübke, Hubschmid) runs into chronological difficulty and is refuted by the FEW.[2]

Littré proposed Latin cala (“piece of wood”) and mentioned Scheler's German etymology.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cotgrave first records it in 1611.[2][8][4]

Semantic evolution

The word names a piece of wood or metal set under or against an object to make it level or keep it from moving.[3][2] In sport cale de départ (1939) is a starting block.[3] The verb caler “to wedge, make level” (1676) is probably derived from it, rather than taken from Dutch or German.[3][5]

Timeline

  • 1611 – Cotgrave records it.[2][8]
  • 1676 – The verb caler “to wedge” is attested.[3][5]
  • 1732 – The diminutive calot “small wedge” is attested.[5]
  • 1845 – Décaler is attested.[5]
  • 1939 – Cale de départ is used in sport.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A wedge or shim placed under or against an object to level it or keep it still: glisser une cale sous la table.[4][2][7]
  2. A chock placed behind a wheel.[4][1]
  3. (mechanics) A metal piece that keeps a gap or fills a space;[4] cale d'épaisseur, a feeler gauge.[4]
  4. (sport) Cale de départ: a starting block.[3]
  5. (golf) A wedge, a kind of club.[1]

Word family

  • caler
  • calot
  • décaler

Usage notes

Littré and the Petit Robert also list other words spelled cale: a woman's or man's cap of obscure origin (12th century), and a small sheltered bay, from Old Occitan, related to calanque.[4][6][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 311b

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Cale.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/cale. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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