Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate
Tracing “”…
Where does the word "calm" come from? It comes from Greek kauma, passing through Italian before entering English (1400s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "calm" come from? It comes from Greek kauma, passing through Italian before entering English (1400s).
Calm’s story begins in Greek: kauma meant “heat of the day.” Greek for burning heat, when everything rests at noon. By 1300s, the word had taken hold in Italian as calma. Sailors' word for a windless sea, via Late Latin 'cauma'. It reached English by 1400s as calm. Arrived through French 'calme'; 'calm down' dates from the 1700s. Today, calm means not showing anger or excitement; still.
- Stage 1 · Greek · ancient kauma "heat of the day", Greek for burning heat, when everything rests at noon.
- Stage 2 · Italian · 1300s calma "stillness of the sea", sailors' word for a windless sea, via Late Latin 'cauma'.
- Stage 3 · English · 1400s calm "stillness", arrived through French 'calme'; 'calm down' dates from the 1700s.