Etymograph

English

calx

Calx comes from Latin calx ‘lime’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcalx1‘lime’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1796calx1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English calx
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1796, Erasmus Darwin, The Laws of Organic Life: “[S]ome ladies apply to what are termed coſmetics under…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcalxWiktionary, English calx‘lime’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1796calxWiktionary, English calx. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1796, Erasmus Darwin, The Laws of Organic Life: “[S]ome ladies apply to what are termed coſmetics under…”

Linked words

through Latin calx ‘lime’

chalk, calcium, quilt, calculus, counterpoint, causeway, recalcitrant, calcareous, calcite, inculcate, caulk, calzone, 32 more

Today it means

noun The substance which remains after a metal or mineral has been thoroughly burnt, once seen as being the essential substance left after the expulsion of phlogiston, but now recognised as being the metallic oxide (or, in some cases, the metal in a state of sublimation).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “calx”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin calx / calx

Shirt and support for this word