cauldron
/ˈkɔːl.dɹən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.06 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A large bowl-shaped pot used for boiling over an open flame.
noun
A type of encirclement.
Example Sentences
- "Double, double, toile and trouble; / Fire burne, and Cauldron bubble."
- "[…] I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses … […]"
- "Large cauldrons are a little tricky to locate, but are well worth the search if you have a place to safely store and use one."
- "Near-synonym: kettle"
- "After having defended the constantly shrinking perimeter of their position for over two weeks, the encircled German units in the Cherkassy “cauldron” were ordered to break out."
- "The cauldron had been formed, and some 2,000 Soviets had been encircled in it; the division estimated this quite a success."
Etymology
From Middle English caudroun, borrowed from Old Northern French caudron, ultimately from Late Latin caldāria (“cooking-pot”), from Latin caldus (“hot”). Spelling later Latinized by having an l inserted. See chowder, caldera. The military sense is a semantic loan from German Kessel; compare English kettling.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: caudroun, chauderon, caldāria, caldus