caloric
UK[kəˈlɒrɪk]US[kəˈlɔːrɪk]
adj
relating to heat or calories.
adj
(of food) containing a lot of calories and so likely to be fattening.
Morpheme Breakdown
calor
ic
calor
heat
ic
adjective suffix
Etymology
the word 'caloric' is a direct descendant of the latin noun 'calor', meaning 'heat'. this latin root itself is derived from the verb 'calēre', 'to be hot', which can be traced back to the proto-indo-european root kele-, meaning 'warm'. in the 18th and early 19th centuries, 'caloric' was the name for a hypothetical weightless fluid thought to be the substance of heat, a theory now obsolete. the modern adjective retains the core association with heat, while its secondary meaning relating to food energy derives from the later scientific term 'calorie', a unit defined by its capacity to heat water.
Analysis
Structure: calor (heat) + ic (adjective suffix)
calor is from latin 'calor', meaning 'heat'. ic is a suffix from latin '-icus' and greek '-ikos', used to form adjectives meaning 'of, pertaining to, or having the nature of'.
Examples
the scientist measured the caloric output of the reaction.
many soft drinks are high in caloric content.
they debated the caloric theory of heat in the history of science class.