"C" Word Origins

calmer

Origin

"Calm" plus the comparative suffix "-er."

calmly

Origin

Simply calm plus the adverb ending -ly.

calmness

Origin

From calm plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.

Calogero

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Calogero.

caloric

Origin

From calorie + -ic. From French calorique, coined by French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, from Latin calor (“heat”).

calorie

Latin

Borrowed from French calorie, built on Latin calor ("heat").

calorific

Origin

From French calorifique or Latin calorificus, from calor + -i- + -ficus.

caltrop

Origin

From Middle English calketrappe, from Old English calcatrippe, from Medieval Latin calcatrippa (“thistle”), from Latin calx or calcare (“to tread”) + trappa (“trap”).

Calum

Late Latin

From Scottish Gaelic Calum, from Late Latin Columba ("dove"); a doublet of Colm.

calumniate

Origin

First attested in 1554; borrowed from Latin calumniātus, perfect passive participle of calumnior (“to blame, cavil at; to accuse falsely”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

calumny

Origin

From Late Middle English calumnīe (“false accusation, slander; (law) objection raised in bad faith”), borrowed from Old French calomnie (“slander, calumny”) (modern French calomnie), or directly from its etymon Latin calumnia (“false statement, misrepresentation; false accusation, malicious charge”), perhaps also related to calvor (“to deceive”). The English word is a doublet of challenge. The verb is derived from French calomnier (“to slander”), from Late Latin calumniāre, from Latin calumpniārī, calumniārī (“to blame unjustly, misrepresent, calumniate; (law) to accuse falsely, bring false information against”), from calumnia (see above) + -or.

Calvary

Latin

From Latin calvāria, "skull" — the traditional site was known as the "place of the skull."

Calvert

Middle English

From Middle English calfhirde, equivalent to calf + herd.

Calvin

Latin

A Latinized form of the French surname Cauvin, originally a nickname for a bald man.

calx

Origin

From Latin calx (“lime”). Doublet of cauk and chalk.

calypso

Origin

From Trinidadian English, likely from the word "kaiso," possibly of West African origin; the spelling later merged with the name of the mythological nymph Calypso.

calyx

Origin

From Latin calyx, from Ancient Greek κάλυξ (kálux, “case of a bud, husk”). Doublet of chalice and kelch.

calzone

Italian

Borrowed from Italian calzone, literally "trouser leg" or "stocking" — a nod to its folded, pocket-like shape.

cam

Dutch · 1500

Recorded since the 1500s, from Dutch kam ("cog, comb") — a doublet of the English word "comb."

camaraderie

French

An unadapted borrowing from French camaraderie, related to "comrade."

camarilla

Origin

Borrowed from Spanish camarilla, from cámara (“chamber”) and the diminutive suffix -illa.

camber

Origin

From Old French cambre (“bent”), from Latin camurum, from camur (“arched”).

Cambodia

French

Borrowed via French Cambodge and Portuguese Camboja; a doublet of Kampuchea.

Cambodian

Origin

From Cambodia plus the adjective/noun suffix -an.

camcorder

Origin · 1982

A blend of "camera" and "recorder," first popularized around 1982.

Camden

Old English

From Old English campas ("enclosure") + denu ("valley").

camdyn

Origin

Fanciful modern spelling of Camden.

came

Origin

Attested from the 17th century, of unknown origin. Possibly from kame (“a ridge”). Compare Scots came (“comb”), Scots kame (“combing; a ridge”), and Middle English camet (“silver”).

camel

Latin

From Latin camēlus, from Greek kámēlos, ultimately from a Semitic root related to Arabic jamal and Hebrew gamal.

camelback

Origin

From camel + back. ]

camellia

Latin

Named after the Moravian botanist Joseph Kamel (Latinized as "Camellus").

Camelot

Old French · 1960

First recorded in Old French as Camaalot in Chrétien de Troyes' Arthurian romances; the political sense nods to the 1960 musical Camelot.

camembert

Origin

Named after Camembert, the Normandy village where the cheese originated.

cameo

Italian

From Italian cammeo; the "brief appearance" film sense comes from "cameo role," compared to the small, instantly recognizable carved figure on a cameo brooch.

camera

Latin

A learned borrowing from Latin camera ("chamber"); the device sense is short for camera obscura, Latin for "dark chamber."

cameral

Origin

Formed from the root of Latin camera (“room; chamber”), with the suffix -al, perhaps corresponding to a Late Latin, Medieval Latin cameralis.

cameraman

Origin

A compound of camera and man.

camerate

Origin

From Latin camerātus, perfect passive participle of camerō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Cameron

Scottish Gaelic

From Scottish Gaelic Camshròn, from cam ("crooked, bent") and sròn ("nose").

Cameroon

Portuguese · 1400

From Portuguese Rio dos Camarões ("river of prawns"), named by 15th-century Portuguese sailors for the shrimp abundant in the Wouri river estuary.

cami

Origin

Shortened from camisole.

camiknickers

Origin

Blend of camisole + knickers. The term was coined in the 1920s when camiknickers were introduced as a briefer garment than combinations. The garment reappeared in the lingerie market in the 1990s under the name teddy or body.

Camilla

Latin

From Latin Camilla, the feminine form of the Roman family name Camillus.

Camille

French

From French Camille; a doublet of Camilla.

camino

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish camino, meaning "road" or "path."

Cammie

Origin

Diminutives + -ie.

cammy

Origin

Short for Camilla or Camille. Clippings + -y.

camo

Origin

A shortening of camouflage.