calma

Forms

calma f (plural calmas)^[1] Houaiss records the spelling callma in 1499.^[2]

Etymology

Houaiss and Cunha take it as borrowed from Italian calma, from Late Latin cauma (“burning heat”), which the language of the Church borrowed from Ancient Greek καῦμα (kaûma, “burning heat, heat of the sun”), from καίω (kaíō, “to burn”).^[2][3][1] The REW also derives the Spanish and Portuguese words from Italian.^[4]

Wiktionary is less certain about the Italian step, because the word is found in Ibero-Romance as early as in Italian.^[1] Corominas thinks that the change of sense and of /u/ to /l/ took place first in the Iberian Peninsula and spread from there; in Portuguese and Catalan the etymological sense “heat” is the usual one from the first records.^[5] The DHLF likewise has the French word come through an Iberian language rather than through Italian.^[6]

The step from “heat” to “stillness” is explained by the calms of the hottest season at sea.^[5] The same word is Spanish calma and French calme.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to the 14th century, from Cunha's medieval index, in the sense “heat of the day”;^[2][3] Cunha's own date is the 15th century.^[2][3] The Horto do Esposo, copied 1390–1437, has the word.^[7]

Semantic evolution

For three centuries the main sense was the heat of the sun: Cardoso (1569) renders it by Latin aestus and calor, and Barbosa (1611) has fazer calma “to be hot”.^[8][9] Morais (1789) adds the hottest hour of the day and, among sailors, the lack of wind.^[10] Houaiss dates the figurative sense “serenity of mind” to 1619, Cunha to 1813.^[2][3]

Today the senses “tranquillity” and “absence of wind” prevail;^[2][1][11] “heat” survives in regional speech in Portugal.^[2][1][11] The DLP also records calma! as an interjection.^[12]

Timeline

• 14th century – first record, in the sense “heat of the day”.^[2]
• c. 1430 – calma in the Horto do Esposo.^[7]
• 1499 – the spelling callma.^[2]
• 1553 – the derivative calmaria “calm at sea”.^[13]
• 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary renders calma by Latin aestus.^[8]
• 1619 – first record of the sense “serenity”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. calm, tranquillity, serenity of mind: Pensa com calma antes de decidir.^[2][14][1]
2. Absence of movement or agitation;^[2][12][1] (nautical) absence of wind at sea, a calmaria.^[2][12][1]
3. Great heat of the sun, usually without wind.^[2][12][1]
4. The hottest hour of the day.^[2][15]
5. Stagnation of trade or business.^[16]

Interjection

1. Calm down!, used to call for composure or to end an argument.^[12]

Word family

• calmaria
• calmo
• acalmar

Related words

• Italian calma
• French calme

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. calma
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. calma
4. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1779
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. calma
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. calme
7. ^ a b Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. calma
8. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. calma
9. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. calma
10. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 218
11. ^ a b Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. calma
12. ^ a b c d e Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. calma
13. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. calmaria
14. ^ Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. calma
15. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. calma
16. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. calma