noun C1 Advanced Uncommon

calorie

KA-luh-ree

Calorie (noun) means a unit of food energy (technically a kilocalorie) used on nutrition labels to measure how much energy a food provides. Example: “The bar has 250 calories per serving.”

noun

A unit of food energy (technically a kilocalorie) used on nutrition labels to measure how much energy a food provides.

"The bar has 250 calories per serving."

"Cutting a few hundred calories a day can lead to steady weight loss."

In science, a much smaller unit of heat energy — the amount needed to raise one gram of water by one degree Celsius — mostly replaced by the joule.

"The old chemistry textbook measured reaction energy in calories rather than joules."

How to Use Calorie

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA measure of energy — in everyday use, it tells you how much energy a food will give your body.

Common mistake

The "Calorie" on food labels is really a kilocalorie (1,000 scientific calories), which is why food and lab-science calories seem to disagree by a factor of 1,000.

Common pairings

burn calories count calories empty calories

Word Forms

calories plural, Calories plural

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

The bar has 250 _____ per serving.

Etymology

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

Origin: Latin

Rhymes for calorie

pie die lie tie sie vie hie fie Mie Rie Xie Nie

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does “calorie” mean?

The word “calorie” means a unit of food energy (technically a kilocalorie) used on nutrition labels to measure how much energy a food provides. In plain terms, a measure of energy — in everyday use, it tells you how much energy a food will give your body.

How do you pronounce “calorie”?

“Calorie” is pronounced KA-luh-ree (/ˈkæləɹi/ in IPA).

How do you use “calorie” in a sentence?

Here is “calorie” used in a sentence: “The bar has 250 calories per serving.”

What part of speech is “calorie”?

“Calorie” is a noun.

Where does the word “calorie” come from?

The word “calorie” comes from Latin. Borrowed from French calorie, built on Latin calor ("heat").

Is “calorie” a common word?

“Calorie” is an uncommon word in modern English, usually learned at around the C1 level.

How many meanings does “calorie” have?

“Calorie” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a unit of food energy (technically a kilocalorie) used on nutrition labels to measure how much energy a food provides.