caul·dron

also cal·dron (kôl′drən)

1. A large vessel, such as a kettle or vat, used for boiling.

2. A state or situation of great distress or unrest felt to resemble a boiling kettle or vat: a cauldron of conflicting corporate politics.

[Middle English caudron, caldroun, from Anglo-Norman cauderon, caldroun, diminutive of caudere, caldere, cooking pot, from Late Latin caldāria, pot for boiling, from feminine of Latin caldārius, suitable for warming, from calidus, warm; see kelə- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cauldron

(ˈkɔːldrən) or

caldron

(Cookery) a large pot used for boiling, esp one with handles

[C13: from earlier cauderon, from Anglo-French, from Latin caldārium hot bath, from calidus warm]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

caul•dron

or cal•dron

(ˈkɔl drən)

n.

a large kettle or boiler.

[1250–1300; Middle English cauderon < Anglo-French < Late Latin caldāria, n. use of feminine of Latin caldārius of warming, derivative of calidus warm, calēre to be warm]

cauldron

Associated with medieval witches, this is a large iron pot in which poisons, ointments and philtres were brewed.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

cauldron - a very large pot that is used for boiling

caldron

pot - metal or earthenware cooking vessel that is usually round and deep; often has a handle and lid

Translations

مِرْجَلٌ، قِدْرٌ

kotel

heksegryde

kotao

ketill

caldaia caldaio calderone paiolo

katilas

katls

ketel

heksegryte stor gryte

cauldron

[ˈkɔːldrən] N → caldera f, calderón m
a cauldron of unrest (fig) → una caldera or olla a presión

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

cauldron

[ˈkɔːldrən] n (= pot) (for soup) → chaudron m; [witch] → chaudron m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

cauldron

n → großer Kessel; (= witch’s cauldron) → (Hexen)kessel m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

cauldron

[ˈkɔːldr/ən] n → calderone m

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

cauldron

(ˈkoːldrən) noun

a large deep pot (used especially by witches) for boiling things in.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Before her was a small cauldron standing over a low fire and in it bubbled a thick, reddish, tarry mass.

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They at once proceeded to light a fire in the huge fireplace; then they placed a great cauldron of boiling water on it.

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A mighty fire was blazing on the hearth and roaring up the wide chimney with a cheerful sound, which a large iron cauldron, bubbling and simmering in the heat, lent its pleasant aid to swell.

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There was a wall made of cheeses arranged like open brick-work, and two cauldrons full of oil, bigger than those of a dyer's shop, served for cooking fritters, which when fried were taken out with two mighty shovels, and plunged into another cauldron of prepared honey that stood close by.

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The door led right into a large kitchen, which was full of smoke from one end to the other: the Duchess was sitting on a three-legged stool in the middle, nursing a baby; the cook was leaning over the fire, stirring a large cauldron which seemed to be full of soup.

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Pierre sat down by the fire and began eating the mash, as they called the food in the cauldron, and he thought it more delicious than any food he had ever tasted.

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A third mixed some sweet wine with water in a silver bowl and put golden cups upon the tables, while the fourth brought in water and set it to boil in a large cauldron over a good fire which she had lighted.

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Last of all, a little fellow crouching in the mud, almost lost in a cauldron, which he was scraping with a tile, and from which he was evoking a sound that would have made Stradivarius swoon.

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Look, do you see that large cauldron of water which I am obliged to keep on the fire!

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They were the two women who did the cooking for the labourers, and their offence had consisted of one of them taking a bath in the big cauldron in which the potatoes were boiled.

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From dawn to sundown the long train wound through the pass, their breath reeking up upon the frosty air like the steam from a cauldron.

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43-49) From Athens the son of Peteous, Menestheus, sought her to wife, and offered many bridal-gifts; for he possessed very many stored treasures, gold and cauldrons and tripods, fine things which lay hid in the house of the lord Peteous, and with them his heart urged him to win his bride by giving more gifts than any other; for he thought that no one of all the heroes would surpass him in possessions and gifts.

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