Etymograph

English

calorie

Calorie comes from Latin calor ‘warmth, heat’, from caleō ‘to be warm, hot’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱleh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱleh₁-‘to be hot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱl̥h₁éh₁yetireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kalēōreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaleō‘to be warm, hot’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcalor‘warmth, heat’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentcalorie
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2008same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱleh₁-‘to be hot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱl̥h₁éh₁yetireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kalēōreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaleō‘to be warm, hot’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcalor‘warmth, heat’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentcalorie
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2008same form

Earliest quotation: 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction): “Biotics possess extraordinary abilities, but they must live with…”

The story

It was originally defined as the large calorie in the early 19th century, with the small calorie being defined some decades later.

Linked words

through Latin caleō ‘to be warm, hot’

scald, 18 more

Today it means

noun A non-SI unit of energy, equivalent to 4.184 kilojoules, that can raise the temperature of a kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. This is the unit normally used in food labeling.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱleh₁- / calorie

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