caldera

See also: Caldera

English

WOTD – 23 February 2010

Etymology

The caldera of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines.

Borrowed from Spanish caldera (“cauldron”), from Late Latin caldāria (“warm bath”), from Latin caldārium. Doublet of chowder.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kælˈdɛə.ɹə/, /ˈkɔːl.də.ɹə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kælˈdɛɹ.ə/

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

Noun

caldera (plural calderas)

1. (volcanology) A large crater formed by collapse of the cone or edifice of a volcano.

   Hypernym: crater

   • 2000, Tony Waltham, “Geyser watching”, in Geology Today, volume 16, Iss. 3, p. 99::

     The lakes of both Rotorua and Taupo occupy calderas left from enormous prehistoric eruptions, and magma lies at shallow depths beneath a number of centres.

Derived terms

• intracaldera

Related terms

• calorie
• cauldron
• coddle
• scald

Translations

geology: a large crater formed by a volcanic explosion

• Arabic: حُفْرَة بُرْكَانِيَّة f (ḥufra(t) burkāniyya), فُوَّهَة f (fuwwaha)
• Catalan: caldera (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 破火山口 (zh) (pòhuǒshānkǒu)

• Czech: kaldera f
• Danish: kaldera c
• Finnish: kaldera (fi)
• French: caldera (fr) f
• German: Caldera (de) f
• Greek: καλντέρα (el) f (kalntéra)
• Irish: caildéara m
• Italian: caldera (it) f
• Japanese: カルデラ (ja) (karudera)
• Māori: tawhā
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kaldera m

  Nynorsk: kaldera m

• Polish: kaldera (pl) f
• Portuguese: caldeira (pt) f
• Russian: кальде́ра (ru) f (kalʹdéra)
• Slovak: kaldera f
• Spanish: caldera (es) f
• Swedish: kaldera c, caldera (sv) c
• Tongan: please add this translation if you can

Anagrams

• Lacerda, craaled

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin caldāria (“cooking-pot”), derived from Latin caldus (“hot”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [kəlˈde̞.ɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [kəlˈde.ɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [kalˈde.ɾa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

caldera f (plural calderes)

1. cauldron
2. boiler
3. (Balearic) a type of fish or seafood soup

   Synonym: caldereta

4. (Valencia) a winter stew of pork, rutabaga, beans, and rice

   Synonym: arròs amb fesols i naps

5. (geology) caldera

Derived terms

• calderada
• calderer
• caldereta
• calderí
• calderó

Related terms

• calder

Further reading

• “caldera”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “caldera”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “caldera” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “caldera”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish caldera. Doublet of caldaia, caldara, and callara.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kalˈdɛ.ra/
• Rhymes: -ɛra
• Hyphenation: cal‧dè‧ra

Noun

caldera f (plural caldere)

1. caldera

Further reading

• “caldera”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

• caldare

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

caldera m (definite singular calderaen, indefinite plural calderaer, definite plural calderaene)

1. form removed with the spelling reform of 2005; superseded by kaldera

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱleh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *ḱl̥h₁éh₁yeti

Proto-Italic *kalēō

Latin caleō

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der.

Proto-Italic *-iðos

Latin -idus

Latin calidus

Latin cal(i)dus

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzios

Latin -ārius

Latin caldārius

Late Latin caldāria

Old Spanish caldera

Spanish caldera

Inherited from Old Spanish caldera, from Late Latin caldāria, substantivization of the feminine of Latin caldārius, from cal(i)dus (“warm, hot”) + -ārius (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of caldero.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kalˈdeɾa/ [kal̪ˈd̪e.ɾa]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɾa
• Syllabification: cal‧de‧ra

Noun

caldera f (plural calderas)

1. cauldron

   Synonym: cacerola

   • 1915, Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Mitos y Supersticiones Recogidos de la Tradición Oral Chilena, page 13:

     La Bruja echa a hervir en una caldera llena de agua, un sapo, una lagartija y murciélago, sabandijas que generalmente se encarga de llevarle el cliente, previendo la posibilidad de que a la hechicera se le haya agotado la provisión.

     The Witch throws into a cauldron of water to boil: a toad, a lizard and a bat, beasties which the client generally takes it upon themself to bring, in case the sorcerer has run out of stock.

2. boiler

   Synonyms: calefón, calentador de agua, (Mexico) boiler, (Mexico) bóiler

3. (geology) caldera

Derived terms

• caldera doble
• calderón

Related terms

• caldero
• caldo

Descendants

• → English: caldera
• → Italian: caldera

Adjective

caldera f

1. feminine singular of caldero

Further reading

• “caldera”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025