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caldo

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word caldo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
mid-13th century, Proverbia super natura feminarum
Inherited from
Latin caldus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *ḱelh₁-

Pronunciation

Forms

caldo (feminine calda, masculine plural caldi, feminine plural calde, superlative caldissimo, diminutive caldìno (usually noun) or caldùccio (usually noun) or calduccìno (usually noun) or (uncommon) caldétto (adjective), pejorative caldàccio)[1] Old forms include Old Italian calldo, Old Italian callo, Old Italian caud and Old Italian cauda, and Old Milanese cald.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin caldus (“warm, hot”), the syncopated form of calidus that was already in Varro's usage, from caleō (“to be warm”).[4][5][6][7] The Appendix Probi condemns it (“calida non calda”), but the short form is the one that lives on throughout Romance.[3][8] The same word is French chaud, Occitan caut, Catalan calt, Romanian cald, Sardinian caldu, Friulian ciàlt and Romansh cauld; Spanish caldo and Portuguese caldo survive only as nouns meaning “broth”.[5][9][3] Its learned doublet is calido.[1][10]

According to de Vaan, Latin caleō is a stative verb from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlh₁-eh₁- (“to be hot”), and calidus may be formed directly from the root;[11] Welsh, Lithuanian and Latvian words for “warm” (Welsh clyd, Lithuanian šiltas) are cognate.[11] The noun ⟨caldo⟩ “heat” continues the Latin neuter adjective used as a noun, and the old feminine ⟨calda⟩ its neuter plural.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the noun “heat” in the Venetian Proverbia super natura feminarum, of the mid-13th century, which the TLIO also gives as its first text.[4][2] The adjective “giving a feeling of warmth” is in the Novellino, at the end of the 13th century: the speaker knows there is a worm inside a stone because stones are naturally cold, and this one was warm.[4][7]

Semantic evolution

Matteo Correggiaio, early in the 14th century, used caldo for a person quick to grow excited or indignant, and Boccaccio in 1353 for what stirs the senses.[4] In the Aristotelian physics of Old Italian texts hot was one of the four primary qualities of matter, with cold, wet and dry, and Iacopone wrote of summer coming “con gran calde”.[2][12] Tuscan writers used caldo caldo for “straight away”, and the colour sense “warm, intense” is recorded in Luigi Lanzi in 1809.[13][4]

The words caldallessa and caldarrosta, boiled and roasted chestnuts, came from Lazio into the common language, where Tuscany had ballotta and bruciata.[4] In modern Italian caldo also describes tense places and times, as in zona calda and the autunno caldo of strikes.[10][14][15] Common phrases include testa calda, a sangue caldo and battere il ferro finché è caldo.[16][17]

Timeline

  • Mid-13th century – The noun caldo appears in the Venetian Proverbia super natura feminarum.[4][2]
  • End of the 13th century – The adjective in the Novellino.[4]
  • Early 14th century – Matteo Correggiaio uses it for an excitable person.[4]
  • c. 1350 – Caldura “sultry summer heat” in the Italian Crescenzi.[4]
  • 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for what stirs the senses.[4]
  • Before 1536 – Giovanni Mauro writes of calde allesse and calde arroste (chestnuts).[4]
  • 1809 – Luigi Lanzi uses it for warm colours.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. warm or hot, at a higher temperature than its surroundings or than the body: Il termosifone è ancora caldo.[6][18][10][1]
  2. Of weather, climate or a season, hot: luglio è stato caldissimo.[6][18]
  3. Of clothing, keeping one warm: una coperta calda.[6][10][16]
  4. Of food, just cooked, served hot: pane caldo, tavola calda, a snack bar serving hot food.[6][10][16]
  5. (figurative) passionate, quick to grow excited: È un ragazzo dal carattere caldo., testa calda, a hothead.[6][16][14]
  6. Warm, cordial: Ci hanno fatto un'accoglienza calda.[6][16]
  7. Sensual; of animals, in heat.[6][14]
  8. Of news, fresh, very recent.[6][16][14]
  9. Of colours, in the range of red and yellow; of a voice or sound, deep and full.[6][10][16]
  10. Marked by unrest or tension: zona calda, autunno caldo.[10][14]

Noun

  1. heat, warmth; hot weather: fare caldo, to be hot (of the weather); avere caldo, to feel hot.[10][1][12]
  2. (figurative) Fervour, ardour; the height of a discussion or action.[10][1]

Word family

  • caldamente
  • caldana
  • caldano
  • caldarrosta
  • caldallessa
  • caldeggiare
  • caldura
  • caldino
  • calduccio
  • accaldarsi
  • scaldare
  • caldaia
  • calderaio
  • calderone
  • calore
  • calido
  • Latin caldus
  • French chaud

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 9, 1333
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 535
  8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 537
  13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  14. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  16. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  17. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  18. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Caldo.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/caldo. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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