cald

Forms

cald m or n (feminine singular caldă, masculine plural calzi, feminine/neuter plural calde)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin caldus (“warm, hot”), the shortened form of calidus, an adjective of the family of caleō (“to be warm”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][1]} The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian caldu, Megleno-Romanian cald and Istro-Romanian cǫd.^{[3][2][9][10][11]} Its Romance cognates include Italian caldo, Sardinian kaldu, French chaud and Occitan caut.^[3][7] It survives only as a noun meaning “broth” in Spanish caldo and Portuguese caldo.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR and Tiktin date the first record to about 1038, as a personal name;^[2][12] Tiktin cites it from Drăganu.^[2][12] More names follow: Călda in 1567 and the place name Căldeiu in 1593.^[13] As a common word MDA2 first records it in Varlaam's Cazania of 1643.^[5] The same book uses the noun caldul “the warmth”: „s-au ivit primăvara cu caldul și cu seninul” “spring appeared with its warmth and clear skies”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

From “warm” the word came to mean “hot”, of bread “fresh”, and of clothes “keeping one warm”.^[14][12] Figurative senses, “ardent, heartfelt” and “affectionate”, are old: a Menaion of 1776 speaks of „caldă credință” “warm faith”.^[4][14] The latest sense is “recent” of news.^[14][5] In Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian the adjective also means “rich”.^[9][10]

DELR records căldură “heat” from about 1500 and derives it from Latin *caldūra.^[2] încălzi “to warm” is recorded from 1561: Tiktin, Ciorănescu and DEX derive it in Romanian, like înmulți from mult, while Pușcariu and the DA posit a Latin verb crossed with caldus.^[2][3] The diminutives followed: căldișor about 1650, călduț “lukewarm” in 1814, căldicel in 1837.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1038 – a personal name, the first record.^[2][12]
• c. 1500 – the derivative căldură “heat”.^[2]
• 1561 – încălzi “to warm”.^[2]
• 1567 – the personal name Călda.^[13]
• 1636 – călduros “warm, keeping warmth”.^[2]
• 1643 – cald and the noun caldul “warmth” in Varlaam's Cazania.^[5][12]
• c. 1650 – the diminutive căldișor.^[2]
• 1776 – „caldă credință” “warm faith”, a figurative use.^[4]
• 1814 – călduț “lukewarm”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. warm: having a fairly high temperature, without being hot, compared with the surroundings or the body; giving a feeling of warmth: apă caldă “warm water”.^[14][1][5]
2. hot, heated.^[14][1][5]
3. Of bread: fresh.^[14][1][5]
4. Of clothes: keeping the body warm.^[14][5]
5. Of regions or countries: with a high temperature all the year.^[14][5]
6. (figurative) Ardent, passionate; friendly, affectionate: o primire caldă “a warm welcome”.^[14][5]
7. (figurative) Of news: latest, recent.^[14][5]

Noun

1. (singular only) Warmth, heat: mi-e cald “I am warm”.^[12][5]

Word family

• căldicel
• căldișor
• căldură
• călduros
• călduț
• încălzeală
• încălzi
• încălzitor

Related words

• căldare
• călâi
• scălda
• Aromanian caldu
• Latin calidus

Usage notes

Bate fierul cât e cald “strike while the iron is hot” and se vinde ca pâinea caldă “it sells like hot cakes” are common sayings.^[12] Nu-i ține nici de cald, nici de rece means “it is all the same to him”.^[14]

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 Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. cald
3. ^ a b c d Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. cald
4. ^ a b c Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. cald
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 278
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1506
8. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 22
9. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 240
10. ^ a b Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 55
11. ^ Byhan, Arthur (1899), Istrorumänisches Glossar, Sechster Jahresbericht des Instituts für rumänische Sprache zu Leipzig: 174–366, p. 250
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cald
13. ^ a b Constantinescu, N. A. (1963), Dicționar onomastic romînesc, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. cald
14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 134