calm English · revision 4583

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1380|origins=grc καῦμα}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /kɑːm/, US /kɑːm/, /kɑːlm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|calme]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) usually explained as [[bor|frm|calme|t=quiet, stillness]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[roa-oit|calma|t=quiet, fair weather]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[la-lat|cauma|t=heat of the midday sun]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[grc|καῦμα|tr=kaûma|t=burning heat, heat of the day]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from kaíein “to burn”, the source of [[caustic]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The idea is that the midday heat was a time when everything rested and was still.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The l is thought to come from association with Latin calēre “to be hot”.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Barnhart and Hoad note that the English noun, adjective and verb are all recorded earlier than the French words (15th century), so the word may have come directly from Medieval or Late Latin rather than through French.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of the sea or weather, still, without wind or agitation: 1380 in Barnhart, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius,^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The noun, an absence of storm or wind, is about 1400,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) in the Middle English Romaunt of the Rose.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word moved from weather to people: the noun was used of a peaceful manner from the early 15th century and of freedom from agitation or passion from the 1540s,^(Etymonline) and the adjective of a composed mind or social conditions from the 1560s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The verb “to become calm” (late 14th century) was followed by the transitive “to make calm” in the 1550s,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) and the intransitive is now mostly used with ''down''.^(SOED 2002) An absence of wind on the Beaufort scale and the ''region of calms'' in the tropics are technical senses.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1380 – adjective, of the sea or weather.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – noun, absence of wind.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – verb, to become calm.^(Etymonline)

+ * early 15th century – noun, a peaceful manner.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – freedom from agitation or passion.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1550s – verb, to make calm.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1560s – adjective, of the mind.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Still and without [[wind]] or rough water.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Not excited, nervous or upset; [[composed]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Stillness or [[tranquillity]]; peace.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Weather without wind, or a wind of less than about 1 mile per hour on the [[Beaufort scale]].^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become calm, often with ''down''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[calmly]]

+ * [[calmness]]

+ * [[calmingly]]

+ * [[becalm]]

+ * [[uncalm]]

+ * [[calmy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[caustic]]

+ * [[cauterize]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}