calcification Look up calcification at Dictionary.com
c.1850, noun of action from calcify).
calcified Look up calcified at Dictionary.com
1836, pp. adj. from calcify.
calcify Look up calcify at Dictionary.com
1854, from stem of L. calcem "lime" + -fy.
calcite Look up calcite at Dictionary.com
1849, from L. calcem "lime" + mineral suffix -ite.
calcitrant Look up calcitrant at Dictionary.com
1866, from L. calcitrantem "kicking" (see recalcitrant). Pedantic humor.
calcium Look up calcium at Dictionary.com
coined 1808 by Sir Humphry Davy from L. calx (gen. calcis) "limestone."
calculate Look up calculate at Dictionary.com
1570, "to compute, to estimate by mathematical means;" see calculation. Meaning "to plan, devise" is from 1654.
calculated Look up calculated at Dictionary.com
1863, "devised beforehand," pp. adj. from calculate. Earlier, "suited, apt" (1722).
calculating Look up calculating at Dictionary.com
1710, "carrying out calculations," from calculate. Meaning "shrewdly or selfishly seeking advantage" is attested from c.1810.
calculation Look up calculation at Dictionary.com
1393, from L.L. calculationem, from calculare, from L. calculus "reckoning, account," originally "pebble used in counting," dim. of calx (gen. calcis) "limestone."
calculator Look up calculator at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "one who calculates" (see calculation). Of mechanical adding machine contraptions, from 1784. Of electronic ones, from 1946.
"Electronic calculator uses 18,000 tubes to solve complex problems" ["Scientific American" headline, June 1946]
calculus Look up calculus at Dictionary.com
1666, from L. calculus "reckoning, account," originally "pebble used in counting," dim. of calx (gen. calcis) "limestone." Modern mathematical sense is a shortening of differential calculus. Also used from 1732 to mean "concretion occurring accidentally in the animal body," as dental plaque, kidney stones, etc.
Calcutta Look up Calcutta at Dictionary.com
city in eastern India, named for Hindu goddess Kali.
caldera Look up caldera at Dictionary.com
1865, "cavity on the summit of a volcano," from Sp. caldera "cauldron, kettle," from L. caldarium, from caldarius "pertaining to warming," from calidus "warm, hot" (see calorie).
caldron Look up caldron at Dictionary.com
spelling of cauldron prefered by other dictionary editors.
Caleb Look up Caleb at Dictionary.com
masc. proper name, in the Bible, one of the 12 men sent by Moses to reconnoiter Canaan, from Heb. Kalebh, lit. "dog-like," from kelebh "dog."
Caledonia Look up Caledonia at Dictionary.com
Roman name of part of northern Britain; since 18c, applied poetically to Scotland or the Scottish Highlands.
calendar Look up calendar at Dictionary.com
c.1200, from O.Fr. calendier "list, register," from L. calendarium "account book," from kalendae "calends" the first day of the Roman month -- when debts fell due and accounts were reckoned -- from calare "to announce solemnly, call out," as the priests did in proclaiming the new moon that marked the calends, from PIE base kele- "to call, shout" (see claim). "Taken by the early Church for its register list of saints and their feast days. The -ar spelling in Eng. is 17c. to differentiate it from the now obscure calender "cloth-presser."
calender (v.) Look up calender at Dictionary.com
"to pass through a calender," a machine which smooths and presses paper, cloth, etc., 1513, from Fr. calandre, the machine name, from M.L. calendra, so called from the shape of the machine used, from L. cylindrus, from Gk. kylindros "roll, cylinder" (see cylinder).
calf Look up calf at Dictionary.com
O.E. cealf "young cow," from W.Gmc. *kalbam, perh. from PIE *gelb(h)-, from base *gel- "to swell," hence, "womb, fetus, young of an animal." Elliptical sense of "leather made from the skin of a calf" is from 1727. Used of icebergs that break off from glaciers from 1818. Calf of the leg is from O.N. kalfr, source unknown; possibly from the same Gmc. root.
caliber Look up caliber at Dictionary.com
1567, from M.Fr. calibre, via Sp. or It., ult. from Arabic qalib "a mold, last," perhaps from Gk. kalopodion "a shoemaker's last," lit. "little wooden foot," from kalon "wood" + podos gen. of pous "foot" (see foot). Arabic also used the word in the sense "mold for casting bullets," which is the original lit. meaning in Eng., though the earliest cited sense is the fig. one of "social standing, quality, rank." Calibrate is attested from 1864.
calibrate Look up calibrate at Dictionary.com
1864, verb formed from caliber. The pp. adj. calibrated is recorded from 1869; calibrating is from 1870; calibration from 1871.
calibre Look up calibre at Dictionary.com
British spelling of caliber (q.v.); for suffix, see -re.
calice Look up calice at Dictionary.com
early form of chalice (q.v.).
caliche Look up caliche at Dictionary.com
sodium nitrate deposits in Chile and Peru, 1858, from Amer.Sp., from Sp. caliche "pebble in a brick."
calico Look up calico at Dictionary.com
1540, corruption of Calicut (mod. Kozhikode), seaport on Malabar coast of India, where Europeans first obtained it. In 16c. it was second only to Goa among Indian commercial ports for European trade. Extended to animal colorings suggestive of printed calicos in 1807, originally of horses.
calid Look up calid at Dictionary.com
1599, from L. calidus "warm," from PIE base *kele- "warm" (see calorie).
California Look up California at Dictionary.com
name of an imaginary realm in "Las sergas de Esplandián" ("Exploits of Espladán"), a romance by Sp. writer Garci Ordóñez de Montalvo, published in 1510, which was said to have been influential among Sp. explorers of the New World and may have led them to misidentify Baja California as this land and mistake it for an island. Where Montalvo got the name and what it means, if anything, is a mystery. Californian is attested from 1785.
caliginous Look up caliginous at Dictionary.com
1540s, from L. caliginosus "misty," from caliginem "mistiness, darkness, gloom."
caligraphy Look up caligraphy at Dictionary.com
alt. spelling of calligraphy.
Caligula Look up Caligula at Dictionary.com
cognomen of the third Roman emperor (12 C.E.-41 C.E.), born Gaius Caesar. The nickname is lit. "little boot," given when he joined his father on military campaigns when still a toddler, in full, child-sized military gear.
caliper Look up caliper at Dictionary.com
1627, short for calliper compass (1588), a device used to measure caliber (q.v.).
caliph Look up caliph at Dictionary.com
1393, from Arabic khalifa "successor," originally Abu-Bakr, who succeeded Muhammad in the role of leader of the faithful after the prophet's death. Caliphate "dominion of a caliph" is from 1614.
caliphate Look up caliphate at Dictionary.com
"dominion of a caliph," 1614, see caliph. Meaning "rank of a caliph" is recorded from 1753.
calisthenics Look up calisthenics at Dictionary.com
1839, formed on model of Fr. callisthenie, from Gk. kallos "beauty" + sthenos "strength." Originally, gymnastic exercises suitable for girls and meant to develop the figure; training calculated to develop the figure and promote graceful movement. The proper Gk., if there was such a word in Gk., would have been kallistheneia.
call (v.) Look up call at Dictionary.com
O.E. ceallian, less common than clipian; replaced by related O.N. kalla "to cry loudly," from P.Gmc. *kallojanan, from PIE base *gal- "to call, scream, shriek, shout" (cf. Skt. garhati "bewail, criticize;" L. gallus "cock;" O.H.G. klaga, Ger. Klage "complaint, grievance, lament, accusation;" O.E. clacu "affront;" O.C.S. glasu "voice," glagolu "word;" Welsh galw "call"). Meaning "to give a name to" is c.1250. Coin-toss sense is from 1801. Meaning "to visit" (M.E.) was literally "to stand at the door and call;" sense of "a short formal visit" is from 1862. Telephone/telegraph sense is from 1889. Calling "vocation" (1382) traces to I Cor. vii:20. To call out someone to fight (1823) corresponds to Fr. provoqueur. To call it a day is from 1834.
call girl Look up call girl at Dictionary.com
"prostitute who makes appointments by phone," c.1900, from call + girl.
caller Look up caller at Dictionary.com
"1502, one who proclaims, from call. Meaning "one who announces step changes at a dance" is recorded from 1882; one who places a telephone call," 1898. Meaning "a social visitor" is attested from 1786.
calligraphy Look up calligraphy at Dictionary.com
1613, from Gk. kaligraphia, from kallos "beauty" + graphein "to write" (see graph).
calliope Look up calliope at Dictionary.com
1858, "steam-whistle keyboard organ," in allusion to Calliope, ninth and chief muse of eloquence and epic poetry, from Gk. Kalliope, from kalli-, combining form of kallos "beauty" + opos (gen. of *ops) "voice."
callipygian Look up callipygian at Dictionary.com
"of, pertaining to, or having beautiful buttocks," 1800, from Gk. kallipygos, name of a statue of Aphrodite, from kalli-, combining form of kallos "beauty" + pyge "rump, buttocks." Sir Thomas Browne (1646) refers to "Callipygæ and women largely composed behinde."
Callisto Look up Callisto at Dictionary.com
2nd moon of Jupiter, in classical mythology a nymph, mother of Arcas by Zeus, turned to a bear by Hera, from Gk. kallistos, superl. of kalos "beautiful." Feminized as proper name Callista.
callithumpian Look up callithumpian at Dictionary.com
1836, U.S. colloquial, probably a fanciful construction at one time designating a society of social reformers, then in reference to "noisy disturbers of elections and meetings," and most commonly "a band of discordant instruments."
callosal Look up callosal at Dictionary.com
"pertaining to the corpus callosum," 1868, from L. callosus.
callous (adj.) Look up callous at Dictionary.com
1578, "hardened," in the physical sense, from L. callosus "thick-skinned," from callum "hard skin" (see callus). The figurative sense of "unfeeling" appeared in Eng. 1679.
callow Look up callow at Dictionary.com
O.E. calu "bare, bald," prob. from W.Gmc. *kalwaz, perhaps from L. or Celt. From young birds with no feathers, meaning extended to any young inexperienced thing or creature (1580).
callus (n.) Look up callus at Dictionary.com
1563, from L., var. of callum "hard skin," related to callere "be hard," and cognate with Skt. kalika "bud," O.Ir. calath "hard."
calm Look up calm at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from O.Fr. calme, traditionally from O.It. calma, from L.L. cauma "heat of the mid-day sun" (in Italy, a time when everything rests and is still), from Gk. kauma "heat" (especially of the sun), from kaiein "to burn." Spelling infl. by L. calere "to be hot." Figurative application to social or mental conditions is 16c.
calomel Look up calomel at Dictionary.com
1676, "mercurous chloride," from Fr. calomel, supposedly from Gk. kalos "fair" + melas "black," but as the powder is yellowish-white this seems difficult.
Calor Look up Calor at Dictionary.com
proprietary name for a type of liquid gas sold in Britain, 1936, from L. calor, lit. "heat" (see calorie).