Etymologically
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caleo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈka.ɫe.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkaː.le.o][1]

Forms

caleō (present infinitive calēre, perfect active caluī, future active participle calitūrus); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem except in the future active participle[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kalē-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱl̥h₁-eh₁- (“to be hot”), a stative verb.[2] Cognate with Welsh clyd (“warm”) and Lithuanian šil̃tas (“warm”).[2][3][4] Lewis & Short thought the origin doubtful.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus says the water is hot.[6][2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[7]

Semantic evolution

It was to be hot or warm, and Cicero says that all living and growing things are warm.[6] It was used of a body warm with exertion or with life, of fever, and of being fired with love, hope, zeal or anger.[6] Döderlein says that calidus is moderate warmth, while fervidus is a high degree of heat.[8]

In medieval Latin it was to be or grow warm, and figuratively to live or be moved.[9] Old French chaloir “to matter” comes from it, and its negative gave English nonchalant.[1][10] English calorie comes from calor.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[6][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the warmth of living things.[6][7]
  • 1734 – English nonchalant is recorded, from French nonchaloir “not to care”.[10]
  • 1866 – English calorie is recorded, from calor.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be warm or hot; to glow.[6][1]
  2. To be warm (with exertion or with life).[6]
  3. To be feverish.[6]
  4. To be fired (with love, hope, zeal or anger).[6]

Word family

  • calefaciō
  • calefio
  • calēscō
  • calidus
  • calor
  • concaleō
  • recaleō
  • caldāmentum
  • caldāria
  • caldāriola
  • caldārium
  • caldārius
  • caldor
  • calefactābilis
  • calefactiō
  • calefactō
  • calefactōrius
  • English calorie
  • English nonchalant

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com