calenture

noun

cal·en·ture | \ ˈka-lən-ˌchu̇r

\

Definition of calenture

: a fever formerly supposed to affect sailors in the tropics

Did You Know?

In addition to being plagued by scurvy and homesickness, sailors of yore who dared the tropics also had calenture to worry about. Given a case of this fever they were likely to imagine that the sea was actually a green field and to leap into it. Our earliest evidence of the word in English is from the late 16th century. Such potent imagery destined the word for figurative use also. "Calenture" has its origins in a Spanish word of the same meaning, "calentura," which itself traces to Latin calēre, meaning "to be warm." Other words from "calēre" include "calorie," "cauldron," and "scald."

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about calenture

Listen to Our Podcast about calenture

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Dictionary Entries near calenture

Statistics for calenture

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for calenture

The first known use of calenture was in 1582

See more words from the same year

Comments on calenture

What made you want to look up calenture? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

WORD OF THE DAY

hoopla

excited commotion or publicity

Test Your Vocabulary

What did you just call me?! A Quiz

If a member of the audience describes your speech as bombastic, does that person mean it is:

rousing and inspiring pompous and overblown

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ

SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games