calque
Plural: calques
Noun
- an expression introduced into one language by translating it from another language
- "`superman' is a calque for the German `Ubermensch'"
- A word or phrase in a language formed by word-for-word or morpheme-by-morpheme translation of a word in another language.
Verb
- To adopt (a word or phrase) from one language to another by semantic translation of its parts.
- CALQUED, CALQUING, CALQUES to model a word's meaning upon that of an analogous word in another language
Origin / 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.
Synonyms
calque formation, loan translation, calquing
Scrabble Score: 17
calque: valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordcalque: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
calque: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 20
calque is a valid Words With Friends word