Everyday LifeGreek → English
Calamari
/ˌkæləˈmɑːri/noun
Squid as food, usually cut into rings and fried.
The Greek roots
κάλαμος
kálamos
reed, reed pen
Literally: “the pen creature”
Follow a root:κάλαμος1 word
The story of the word
Latin took κάλαμος as calamus, the reed you cut into a writing pen, and the pot of ink beside it was a calamarium. Italian then named the squid calamaro for two good reasons: it carries its own ink, and the stiff transparent shell inside its body is shaped exactly like a quill. The plate on the taverna table is therefore a plate of pen-fish.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Italian → English
- First recorded
- 20th century
Same family
calamusshawm
In a sentence
The calamari came out rubbery, which is what happens when the oil is cold.
We ordered calamari, bread and a jug of the house white.