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caldarius

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word caldarius

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 84–25 BC Vitruvius More words from the 1st century BC
Ultimate origin
Latin calidus
Derivations

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kaɫˈdaː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kalˈdaː.ri.us][1]

Forms

caldārius (feminine caldāria, neuter caldārium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

The OLD derives it from Latin calida (“hot water”) + -ārius, and gives calidārius as its main spelling;[2] Lewis and Short and Georges derive it from caldus, the shortened form of calidus “warm”.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Vitruvius,[5] who has a bronze vessel for hot water for the baths.[4]

Semantic evolution

It means used for hot water or for warming:[2] Pliny the Younger has the warm room of the baths (cella caldaria), Palladius a plaster for the walls of bathrooms.[4][6] Pliny the Elder calls a kind of bronze caldarium because it can only be worked hot.[4][7]

Used as a noun, the feminine caldāria was a warm room or bath and a cooking pot,[4][3] the sense in the Vulgate;[6] the neuter caldārium was a hot bath.[2][7] The TLL traces Romance words for a cauldron, such as Italian caldaia, French chaudière and Spanish caldera, perhaps to a phrase like olla calidaria.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of a bronze vessel for hot water.[4][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes bronze worked only when hot.[4][7]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses caldāria for a cooking pot.[6][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Used for hot water; for warming: cella caldaria, the warm room of the baths.[2][4][7]
  2. (of bronze) Worked only when hot.[4][7]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
Cite this entry

“Caldarius.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/caldarius. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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