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calidus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word calidus

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Ennius
Ultimate origin
Latin (caleō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈka.lɪ.dʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkaː.li.dus][1]

Forms

calidus (feminine calida, neuter calidum, comparative calidior, superlative calidissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from caleō “to be warm” with the suffix -idus.[2][1][3] Cognate with Umbrian calersu.[1] A contracted form ⟨caldus⟩ is frequent in Cato and Varro, while Lucretius and Cicero use only ⟨calidus⟩.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Ennius, of the warmth of living bodies.[2] Köbler's first source is Plautus.[4] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant hot, as Cicero's omne quod est calidum “everything hot”, heated, with calidae aquae “hot springs”, of climates and situations warm, and of bodies warm with life.[2][5] It meant warm, of clothes, hot to the taste, pungent, feverish, of wine heady, and of persons hasty, hot-blooded, lusty, angry, as in Horace.[2] It also meant rash, as in Terence, and devised on the spot, as in Plautus.[2] Döderlein says calidus is moderately warm, opposed to frīgidus.[6]

In Medieval Latin it meant hot, and in medicine “hot” as a quality.[7] Through the contracted caldus it survives in Italian caldo, Old French chaut and Romanian cald.[1]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of warm bodies.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of heated things and of improvisation.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of heat and hot springs.[2][5][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Hot, warm, calidae aquae, hot springs.[2]
  2. (of climate) Warm.[2]
  3. Pungent; feverish, (of wine) heady.[2]
  4. Eager; hot-blooded; angry.[2]
  5. Rash, hasty.[2]
  6. Improvised.[2]

Word family

  • caldamentum
  • caldicerebrius
  • calida
  • calidum
  • praecalidus
  • subcalidus
  • caldāria
  • caldāriola
  • caldārium
  • caldārius
  • caldor
  • caldūmen
  • calefaciō
  • calefactābilis
  • calefactiō
  • calefactō
  • calefactōrius
  • calefactus
  • caleō
  • calēscō
  • calor
  • calōrātus
  • frīgidus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ 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

“Calidus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/calidus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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