scaldare

Forms

scaldare (first-person singular present scàldo, first-person singular past historic scaldài, past participle scaldàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin excaldāre (“to put in hot water; to warm”), formed in Latin from cal(i)dus (“hot”) with the prefix ex-.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb meant to clean with hot water and to heat.^[5] Devoto took the prefix to mark the passage to a new state;^[6] Italian gave the verb the lasting sense of making something progressively warmer.^[6] By surface analysis it is s- + caldo + -are.^[1]

The verb is pan-Romance.^[3][7][5] Without the initial vowel it is Romanian scălda (“to bathe”), which has kept only the sense of bathing since 1563; with it, Old French eschalder (“to dip in hot water”) (late 11th century), whence French échauder (“to scald”), and Occitan escaudar and Portuguese escaldar.^[8][9] In Spanish and Catalan escaldar is only an occasional learned word; the everyday verbs are Spanish calentar and Catalan escalfar.^[8] DEI compares the Latin compound excalefacere, the source of southern Italian ⟨scarfare⟩.^[7]

The adjective belongs to caleō (“to be warm”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *kalē- and Proto-Indo-European *ḱlh₁-eh₁- (“to be hot”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur of the 13th century, in the sense of giving off or passing on heat;^[11][2] DELI dates the sense “to make hot or hotter” to an anonymous 13th-century text.^[11][2]

Semantic evolution

Dante already uses the verb in its full range: two sinners lean on each other “as pans are propped against each other to warm” (Come a scaldar s'appoggia tegghia a tegghia), and jackdaws stir at dawn “to warm their cold feathers”.^[12] The figurative sense “to stir up, excite” is dated to Dante, before 1321.^[2] Boccaccio writes: “If the sun begins to warm you, remember the cold you made me suffer.”^[12]

The reflexive scaldarsi “to warm oneself” is recorded in Milan in 1846 (Venetian-Paduan scaldarse from 1796), and “to get worked up, lose one's temper” in Tommaseo in 1872 (Venetian from 1829).^[2] Compounds named the household objects for warming: scaldaletto (before 1412), scaldavivande (1554–1565), scaldapiedi (1561), scaldino (1685), scaldabagno (1902), and recently scaldacollo (1992).^[2][8] Scaldapanche, a pupil who learns nothing, is recorded in 1863.^[2]

Timeline

• 13th century – Scaldare appears in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur.^[11]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses scaldare figuratively, “to stir up”.^[2]
• Before 1412 – Lapo Mazzei uses scaldaletto, a bed-warmer.^[2]
• 1561 – Scaldapiedi, a foot-warmer, is recorded.^[2]
• 1685 – Scaldino, a hand-warmer filled with embers, is recorded.^[2]
• 1846 – Reflexive scaldarsi “to warm oneself” is recorded in Milan.^[2]
• 1872 – Tommaseo–Bellini records scaldarsi “to get worked up”.^[2]
• 1902 – Scaldabagno, a water heater, is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To make warm or warmer, to heat: Scaldo un po' di latte per la bambina.^[4][13][14]
2. (transitive) To give a feeling of warmth: Questa sciarpa di lana scalda il collo.^[4][13]
3. (transitive, figurative) To fire with enthusiasm, to excite: Il comizio ha scaldato la piazza.^[4][13][14]
4. (transitive) To run an engine for a while before setting off;^[4][15][16] (nautical) scaldare le macchine, to raise steam in a ship's engines before departure.^[4][15][16]
5. (intransitive) To give off heat: A mezzogiorno il sole scalda.^[4][13][17]
6. (intransitive) Of machine parts, to overheat.^[4][14][17]
7. (reflexive, scaldarsi) To warm oneself;^[14][13][15] (sports) to warm up before a race or game.^[14][13][15]
8. (pronominal, scaldarsi) To become warm or warmer.^[14][17][13]
9. (pronominal, scaldarsi, figurative) To get excited; to get worked up, lose one's temper.^[14][13][18]

Word family

• riscaldare
• scaldino
• scaldaletto
• scaldabagno
• scaldaacqua
• scaldapiedi
• scaldavivande
• scaldapanche
• scaldamani
• scaldacollo
• scaldata

Related words

• caldo
• Latin calidus
• French échauder

Usage notes

Scaldare il banco (or la sedia, il posto) is said of a pupil or employee who attends without working or learning.^[4][15][17]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
6. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
8. ^ a b c Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 21, 1057
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
16. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
17. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
18. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli