Calidity

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being warm or hot within a context
2. The state of possessing warmth or heat in a given environment
3. A term describing the condition of warmth or the degree of heat present

Etymology: "Calidity" is a borrowing from Latin "caliditās," a noun built on "calidus," meaning "warm" or "hot." The Latin root "calere," to be warm, is also the source of "calorie" and "caldera," so the word sits in a family of heat-related English vocabulary. Its Italian counterpart, "calidità," shows the same Latin base passing into a neighbouring language. The word's meaning is exactly what its parts suggest: the quality or condition of being warm. The Latin suffix "-itās" turns an adjective into an abstract noun, so "calidus" (warm) becomes "caliditās" (warmth as a state or quality). English took the noun whole, keeping its abstract sense rather than its concrete one. Few people use it today, which makes it a useful reminder that English can name a physical sensation as a quality in its own right.

Synonyms: warmth, heat, hotness, fervor, temperature

Antonyms: coldness, coolness, chill, frigidity, ice