ꦏꦊꦩ꧀ (Javanese)

Where does "ꦏꦊꦩ꧀" come from?

The Javanese adjective 'ꦏꦊꦩ꧀', meaning 'calm', was borrowed from Dutch 'kalm'[1]. The Dutch word ultimately traces back through French and Italian to the Ancient Greek word 'καῦμα', which meant 'heat' or 'heat of the sun'[3][4]. This Greek term is formed from 'καίω', meaning 'to burn'[6]. Over time, the meaning shifted from the heat of the midday sun to the quiet stillness that typically accompanies that hottest part of the day[4].

Open questions

The Italian and Ibero-Romance words for calm may derive from Late Latin cauma, which originates from Ancient Greek kauma, though the exact transmission path involving Italian or an Iberian language remains uncertain. [3] [4] [5]
The Ancient Greek root kaiō is of uncertain origin, with its proposed Proto-Indo-European etymon remaining a reconstruction. [8]

Full etymology tree

ꦏꦊꦩ꧀ (kalem) (Javanese), 'calm'
- borrowed kalm (Dutch), 'calm, tranquil, free of noise and disturbance'
  - derived calm (Dutch)
    - borrowed calme (French), 'calm'
      - borrowed calma (Italian), 'calm, stillness, peacefulness'
        derived cauma (Latin), 'heat'
        inherited καῦμα (kaûma) (Ancient Greek), 'burning, glow, heat (especially of the sun)'
        derived καίω (kaíō) (Ancient Greek), 'to light, kindle, set on fire'
        inherited *káyyō (Proto-Hellenic)
        suffix -μα (-ma) (Ancient Greek), 'Added to verbal stems to form neuter nouns denoting the effect or result of an action, a particular instance of an action, or the object of an action'

Ancestors

kalm (Dutch)

Descendants and derived words

kalem (Indonesian)

Sources

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris