Caldron

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A substantial pot generally used for heating or cooking substances over a fire
2. A large, deep metal container designed for boiling or cooking over an open flame
3. A heavy pot typically made of metal suitable for heating liquids or food through direct fire

Etymology: The spelling "caldron" is the older form of "cauldron," and the "l" that now sits in the middle of "cauldron" was a later addition. English took the word from Old Northern French "caudron," which was itself drawn from Late Latin "caldāria," meaning "cooking-pot." That Latin term came from "caldus," "hot," so the vessel was named for the heat it was meant to hold. Middle English speakers wrote the word as "caudroun," and the spelling was only Latinized later, when scribes and printers inserted the "l" to echo the Latin source. The word's history also reaches a surprising place in another direction. Its cousin "chowder" comes from the same family of French cooking terms, and "caldera," the large volcanic basin, shares the Latin root "caldus," so the hot pot and the hot crater are close relatives. In its military sense, "cauldron" for an area where troops are surrounded was a semantic loan from German "Kessel," meaning "kettle," echoed in the modern term "kettling."

Synonyms: cauldron, pot, kettle