Calmer

How to spell calmer

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce calmer

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does calmer mean?

1. adjectiveMore peaceful, still, or free from agitation than something else.

Calmer in a sentence

• The sea was much calmer once the storm had passed.

• He felt calmer after the breathing exercises than he had all week.

Where does calmer come from?

Language of origin: French

This is the comparative form of 'calm', an adjective that arrived in English in the late 1300s through Old French 'calme'. The French word came from Italian 'calma', and behind that lies the Late Latin 'cauma', meaning the burning heat of the midday sun. The link runs through the idea that in hot Mediterranean countries the heat of the day was a time of rest and stillness, when sailors stayed in port and no wind stirred; over time the sense shifted from the hot, windless hour to the windless stillness itself, and then to peacefulness of mind. The English spelling acquired its silent 'l' partly by analogy with related Latin and Romance forms, and that unsounded letter is exactly the trap, since the word is pronounced as if it read 'cammer'. The comparative simply adds '-er' to signal 'more calm'.

How the word is built

• calm (still, untroubled)
• -er (comparative suffix)