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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

calque en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

From French calque (“calque”, literally “copy, tracing”), from calquer (“to copy, trace”) (whence also calk), itself borrowed from Italian calcare, from Latin calcāre (“to tread”). Doublet of calcate and calcation.

Meanings

  1. A word or phrase in a language formed by word-for-word or morpheme-by-morpheme translation of a word in another language.
    • Those phrases, translated from Spanish, are known as calques. […] The three young Miamians in the video also use “super” as an adverb, one of the calques from Spanish mentioned in Dr. Carter’s research. (“Ay, I’m super bloated.”) 2023 July 26, Patricia Mazzei, “‘Get Down’ From the Car. ‘Make’ the Line. Is Miami English a Dialect?”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 31 Jul 2023:
    • One of the primary benefits of calque is its ability to enhance cross-cultural communication. 2024 June 7, Soumaya Amine Al Salti, “Calque Examples in Translating: Impacts on Linguistic Diversity”, in Soumaya Salti, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2025:
    • David S. Powers, professor of Islamic history and law at Cornell, says he thinks that the word as used today is in the nature of what linguists call a calque, a borrowing from another language in literal translation […] 2005 March 27, William Safire, “Kifaya!”, in The New York Times Magazine, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2021:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
calques Number=Plur lexicographic

Coordinates

loanword · partial calque · loanblend · Hobson-Jobson

Deriveds

semantic calque · semi-calque

Hypernyms

loan formation

Hyponyms

partial calque

Relateds

metaphrase

Synonyms

loan translation · calquing

Translations (62)

cmn 仿譯 /仿译 (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · nb oversettingslån (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · yue 借譯 /借译 (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · ka კალკი (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · ko 번역차용 (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · eo tradukprunto (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · tr öyküntü (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · be ка́лька (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · sq kalk (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · yi קאַלקע (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · fa گرتهبرداری (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · cmn 借譯 /借译 (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · nb oversettelseslån (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · ar تَرْجَمَة اِقْتِرَاضِيَّة (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · sl kalk (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · nl leenvertaling (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · sh kȁlk (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · hy բառապատճեն (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · el μεταφραστικό δάνειο (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · da oversættelseslån (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · mk преведеница (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · el εκτύπωμα (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · pl kalka (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · fo umsetingarlán (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · ca calc (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · fo týðingarlán (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · is tökuþýðing (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · pt decalque linguístico (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · ga lomaistriúchán (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · fr calque (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · cmn 仿造詞 /仿造词 (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · ro calc (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · th แคลเก้ (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · eo kalkeo (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · fi käännöslaina (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · hu tükörfordítás (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · cy cyfieithiad benthyg (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · es calco (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · sv översättningslån (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · af calque (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · ja 翻訳借用 (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · br drevezadenn (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · af leenvertaling (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · de Lehnübersetzung (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · fo tøkutýðing (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · uk ка́лька (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · lv kalks (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · id pinjam terjemah (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · cs kalk (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · hu kalk (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · pt decalque (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · mk калка (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · sh ка̏лк (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · nn omsetjingslån (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · hu tükörszó (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · it calco (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · ru ка́лька (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · az hərfi tərcümə (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · eo paŭso (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · az kalka (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · bg ка́лка (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language) · sk kalk (word formed by word-for-word translation of a word in another language)

wikidata: Q204826

calque en · VERB

Pronunciation

Etymology

From French calque (“calque”, literally “copy, tracing”), from calquer (“to copy, trace”) (whence also calk), itself borrowed from Italian calcare, from Latin calcāre (“to tread”). Doublet of calcate and calcation.

Meanings

  1. (transitive) To adopt (a word or phrase) from one language to another by semantic translation of its parts.
    • Terms like "cloud computing" have been calqued into multiple languages, making it easier for global audiences to grasp complex technological concepts. […] For example, translating Shakespeare's works into other languages often involves calquing phrases to maintain the rhythm and metaphorical richness of the original. 2024 June 7, Soumaya Amine Al Salti, “Calque Examples in Translating: Impacts on Linguistic Diversity”, in Soumaya Salti, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2025:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
calques Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
calqued Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
calqued Tense=Past lexicographic
calquing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Translations (19)

pt decalcar (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · de lehnübersetzen (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · bg калки́рам (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · hy բառապատճենել (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · yi קאַלקירן (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · mk калки́ра (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · kk калькалау (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · sh kalkírati (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · yue 借譯 /借译 (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · cmn 借譯 /借译 (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · hu tükörfordítással alkot (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · es calcar (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · sh калки́рати (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · kk сөзбе-сөз аудару (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · ru калькировать (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · fi omaksua käännöslaina (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · fr calquer (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · id meminjam terjemah (adopt a word by translation of its parts) · cs kalk (adopt a word by translation of its parts)