caldo Italian · revision 38049

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=mid-13th century, Proverbia super natura feminarum|origins=ine-pro *ḱelh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkal.do/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''caldo''' (feminine calda, masculine plural caldi, feminine plural calde, superlative caldissimo, diminutive caldìno (usually noun) or caldùccio (usually noun) or calduccìno (usually noun) or (uncommon) caldétto (adjective), pejorative caldàccio)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|calldo]], [[roa-oit|callo]], [[roa-oit|caud]] and [[roa-oit|cauda]], and Old Milanese [[m|roa-oit|cald]].^(TLIO)^(LEI|9, 1333)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|caldus|t=warm, hot]], the syncopated form of [[m|la|calidus]] that was already in Varro's usage, from [[m|la|caleō|t=to be warm]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|2, 535) The Appendix Probi condemns it (“calida non calda”), but the short form is the one that lives on throughout Romance.^(LEI|9, 1333)^(Körting 1907) The same word is [[fr|chaud]], [[oc|caut]], [[ca|calt]], [[ro|cald]], [[sc|caldu]], [[fur|cjalt|alt=ciàlt]] and [[rm|cauld]]; [[es|caldo]] and [[pt|caldo]] survive only as nouns meaning “broth”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(LEI|9, 1333) Its learned doublet is [[calido]].^(Wiktionary)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ According to de Vaan, Latin [[m|la|caleō]] is a stative verb from [[ine-pro|*ḱlh₁-eh₁-|t=to be hot]], and [[m|la|calidus]] may be formed directly from the root;^(de Vaan 2008) Welsh, Lithuanian and Latvian words for “warm” ([[cy|clyd]], [[lt|šiltas]]) are cognate.^(de Vaan 2008) The noun ⟨caldo⟩ “heat” continues the Latin neuter adjective used as a noun, and the old feminine ⟨calda⟩ its neuter plural.^(LEI|9, 1333)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the noun “heat” in the Venetian ''Proverbia super natura feminarum'', of the mid-13th century, which the TLIO also gives as its first text.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) The adjective “giving a feeling of warmth” is in the ''Novellino'', at the end of the 13th century: the speaker knows there is a worm inside a stone because stones are naturally cold, and this one was warm.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|2, 535)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Matteo Correggiaio, early in the 14th century, used ''caldo'' for a person quick to grow excited or indignant, and Boccaccio in 1353 for what stirs the senses.^(DELI 1999) In the Aristotelian physics of Old Italian texts hot was one of the four primary qualities of matter, with cold, wet and dry, and Iacopone wrote of summer coming “con gran calde”.^(TLIO)^(GDLI|2, 537) Tuscan writers used ''caldo caldo'' for “straight away”, and the colour sense “warm, intense” is recorded in Luigi Lanzi in 1809.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ The words ''caldallessa'' and ''caldarrosta'', boiled and roasted chestnuts, came from Lazio into the common language, where Tuscany had ''ballotta'' and ''bruciata''.^(DELI 1999) In modern Italian ''caldo'' also describes tense places and times, as in ''zona calda'' and the ''autunno caldo'' of strikes.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI) Common phrases include ''testa calda'', ''a sangue caldo'' and ''battere il ferro finché è caldo''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mid-13th century – The noun ''caldo'' appears in the Venetian ''Proverbia super natura feminarum''.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+ * End of the 13th century – The adjective in the ''Novellino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Early 14th century – Matteo Correggiaio uses it for an excitable person.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1350 – ''Caldura'' “sultry summer heat” in the Italian Crescenzi.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for what stirs the senses.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1536 – Giovanni Mauro writes of ''calde allesse'' and ''calde arroste'' (chestnuts).^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1809 – Luigi Lanzi uses it for warm colours.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|warm]] or [[m|en|hot]], at a higher temperature than its surroundings or than the body: ''Il termosifone è ancora caldo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of weather, climate or a season, hot: ''luglio è stato caldissimo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Of clothing, keeping one warm: ''una coperta calda''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of food, just cooked, served hot: ''pane caldo'', ''tavola calda'', a snack bar serving hot food.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' [[m|en|passionate]], quick to grow excited: ''È un ragazzo dal carattere caldo.'', ''testa calda'', a hothead.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Warm, cordial: ''Ci hanno fatto un'accoglienza calda.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Sensual; of animals, [[m|en|in heat]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of news, fresh, very recent.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of colours, in the range of red and yellow; of a voice or sound, deep and full.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Marked by unrest or tension: ''zona calda'', ''autunno caldo''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|heat]], warmth; hot weather: ''fare caldo'', to be hot (of the weather); ''avere caldo'', to feel hot.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)^(GDLI|2, 537)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Fervour, ardour; the height of a discussion or action.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[caldamente]]

+ * [[caldana]]

+ * [[caldano]]

+ * [[caldarrosta]]

+ * [[caldallessa]]

+ * [[caldeggiare]]

+ * [[caldura]]

+ * [[caldino]]

+ * [[calduccio]]

+ * [[accaldarsi]]

+ * [[scaldare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[caldaia]]

+ * [[calderaio]]

+ * [[calderone]]

+ * [[calore]]

+ * [[calido]]

+ * [[la|caldus]]

+ * [[fr|chaud]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}