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
1
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."
2
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 notesIn 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
Vocabulary Flow
Build your vocabulary from words like calorie.
Vocabulary Flow serves the next word, and the next — meaning, pronunciation and an example each time. Practice at your level, or learn English in your own language.
Start vocabulary practice
Word forms
- Plural
- calories
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").
Synonyms
View more →
kilocalorie
kcal
Related words
Rhymes for calorie
See all rhymes for calorie →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.
What is the difference between a calorie and a kilocalorie?
The unit used on nutrition labels is technically a kilocalorie, equal to 1,000 of the small scientific calories originally defined as the energy needed to raise one gram of water by one degree Celsius. In everyday nutrition talk, "calorie" is used loosely to mean kilocalorie, which is why food labels show much larger numbers than the strict scientific unit would suggest.
Why is "Calorie" sometimes written with a capital C?
A capital-C Calorie is used in nutrition contexts to signal that the figure refers to a kilocalorie rather than the smaller scientific calorie, helping distinguish food energy values from the technical unit of heat. In practice, most food labeling drops the capital and just says "calories," even though it means kilocalories.
How do calories relate to joules?
The joule is the modern scientific unit of energy that has largely replaced the calorie in physics and chemistry, since both measure energy but the calorie was defined specifically around heating water. Nutrition labels in many countries now list both calories and kilojoules so the food energy can be understood in either unit.
