Etymologically

calefactio

Etymology and origin of the Latin word calefactio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Digest
Ultimate origin
Latin (caleō,faciō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin calefacio
Latin calefacto
Latin calefactio

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ka.ɫɛˈfak.ti.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ka.leˈfak.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

calefactiō f (genitive calefactiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin calefaciō (“to make warm”) + -tiō.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short call it post-Augustan, citing the Digest on heating a public bath (balneī pūblicī calefactiō).[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It meant the heating of a bath, warming, heating, and in the plural the heating of hot baths.[2][3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant heat, heating.[5] British Medieval Latin used it for heating, warming, figuratively, and in medicine.[6] English calefaction, French caléfaction and Spanish calefacción are from it.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The heating (of a bath), warming.[2][3]
  2. (Medieval Latin, medicine) Heating.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Calefactio.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/calefactio. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·