cauldron

noun

caul·​dron ˈkȯl-drən 

variants or less commonly caldron

1

: a large kettle or boiler

2

: something resembling a boiling cauldron in intensity or degree of agitation

a cauldron of intense emotions

Examples of cauldron in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Dozens gathered in Summerhill Monday evening to protest plans to move the top of the Olympic Flame Tower, known as the cauldron, from its spot near Center Parc Stadium. — Daniel Wilkerson, CBS News, 22 June 2026

Arrowhead did what it is designed to do — keep noise in and amplify it — and the cauldron of songs, whistles and drums turned the historic cathedral of sport into the famed Estadio Monumental or La Bombonera in Buenos Aires for the night. — Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 17 June 2026

Even when his final Kings season collapsed around him, Hiller maintained a professional, even congenial, relationship with media members, and that can serve him well in the cauldron that is Toronto. — Eric Stephens, New York Times, 17 June 2026

Georgia State University has announced a plan to move the cauldron, the top portion of the Olympic flame, from Atlanta’s Summerhill neighborhood to Centennial Olympic Park. — Nila Roper, AJC.com, 13 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English caudron, caldron, from Anglo-French cauderon, diminutive of caldere basin, from Late Latin caldaria, from feminine of Latin caldarius used for hot water, from calidus warm, from calēre to be warm — more at lee

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for cauldron

• caldron

Kids Definition

cauldron

noun

caul·​dron

variants also caldron

ˈkȯl-drən

1

: a large kettle

2

: something resembling a boiling cauldron in intensity or degree of agitation

a cauldron of intense emotion

Etymology

Middle English caldron, cauldron "cauldron," from earlier cauderon (same meaning), derived from an early French dialect word caudiere "basin," derived from Latin calidus "warm," from calēre "to be hot" — related to calorie, nonchalant