Bibliotheca Polyglotta

▪ Rolland2014: from Grk kalópous, kalápous ‘last, wooden model for shoes’, from Grk kâlon ‘wood’ and poús ‘foot’, probably via mPers kal-pād and Pers kāleb ‘id.’.
▪ The Ar word gave our word calibre.

hist

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cogn

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disc

Before Rolland2014, Fraenkel1886 gave the same from Grk kalopódion as etymon, but proposed Syr qalbīḏ (or, rather, qalbūḏ) (rather than Rolland’s mPers) as the intermediary between Grk and Ar. In contrast, Syr qalbā ‘last, mould’ is probably from the Ar qālib rather than vice versa, cf. the var. Syr qāleb.

west

▪ Engl caliber, calibre ‘degree of merit or importance’ : 1560 s, »a figurative use from mFr calibre (late C15), apparently ultimately from Ar qālib ‘mold for casting’. Ar also used the word in the sense ‘mold for casting bullets’, which is the oldest literal meaning in Engl. Meaning ‘inside diameter of a gun barrel’ is attested from 1580 s. Barnhart remarks that Span calibre, Ital calibro “appear too late to act as intermediate forms” between the Ar word and the Fr« – EtymOnline.¹

1. In contrast, Kluge2002 gives Fr calibre < Ital calibro < mLat < Ar qālib, etc.

deriv

► qālib ǧubn, n., a chunk or loaf of cheese.
► qālib sukkar, n., sugarloaf.
► qālib ṣābūn, n., a cake or bar of soap.
► qalban wa-qāliban, adv., with heart and soul; inwardly and outwardly: adv.acc.

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