Etymologically
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chaud

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Pronunciation

Forms

chaud (feminine chaude, masculine plural chauds, feminine plural chaudes)[1] Old French chaut, chalt, chauz.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin caldus (“hot, (figurative) hot-headed”), the contracted form of calidus, from caleō (“to be hot”), the source also of chaloir.[5][2][6][7][8] Littré read the “grant iholt” of the 10th-century Jonah fragment as an early spelling of the word.[4]

Cognate with Romanian cald, Italian caldo, Occitan caud, Catalan cald and Old Occitan caut, Spanish and Portuguese “caldo” is only a noun, “broth”.[7][6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) uses it for a high temperature and, as a noun, for heat: Granz est li calz, si se leve la poudre (“great is the heat, and the dust rises”).[5][4]

Semantic evolution

Figurative uses came early: chaudes lermes (1165), whence pleurer à chaudes larmes, and d'ire chauz “hot with anger” (1165), a sense kept in Swiss French être chaud “to be angry”.[5][2] In 1243 une chaude novelle was a fresh piece of news, Jean de Meun (1275) uses it for “sensual”, and Adenet le Roi (1285) for “feverish”.[5] As a noun it gave ne faire ni chaud ni froid (about 1236) and au plus chaud de la mêlée (Montaigne, 1580); à chaud was applied to surgery in 1906.[5][2]

Classical French used it for hot-headedness, modern French for enthusiasm, as in ne pas être chaud pour.[2] After English hot it is used in quartier chaud and point chaud, and in African French of a dangerous situation; in Canadian French it can mean “drunk”.[2][1] Waiters' chaud devant ! warns of something hot being carried.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Adjective and noun in the Chanson de Roland.[5]
  • 1165 – Chaudes lermes, d'ire chauz.[5]
  • 1243 – Chaude novelle “fresh news”.[5]
  • c. 1236 – Ce ne me fet ne froit ne chaut.[5]
  • 1275 – “Sensual”, in Jean de Meun.[5]
  • 1863 – Chaud-froid.[6]
  • 1906 – À chaud in surgery.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. hot, warm: eau chaude, un climat chaud.[7][10]
  2. Fresh, recent: une nouvelle toute chaude.[2]
  3. Ardent, lively: une chaude discussion, un chaud partisan.[2][11]
  4. (familiar) Keen: il n'est pas chaud pour ce projet.[2][1]
  5. (familiar) Risky, troubled: quartier chaud, point chaud.[2][1]
  6. (slang) Sexy; randy.[1]
  7. (Canada, colloquial) Drunk, (Switzerland) angry.[1][2]

Noun

  1. Heat: endurer le chaud et le froid, avoir chaud, to be hot.[12]
  2. (familiar) Avoir eu chaud: to have had a narrow escape.[12][13]
  3. À chaud: in the heat of the moment, (surgery) during the acute phase.[12][2]
  4. Ne faire ni chaud ni froid: to leave cold.[2]

Adverb

  1. Hot: servir chaud, (familiar) coûter chaud, to cost a lot.[12]

Word family

  • chaud-froid
  • chaudement
  • chaudeau

Usage notes

Chaud devant ! is a waiters' warning to make way for something hot.[2][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 87b
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  12. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  13. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF