cauldron

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a large deep pot used for boiling food or liquid, traditionally over an open fire

   The cook stirred a large cauldron that seemed to be full of soup.

2. 2
   noun

   a place or situation filled with intense, unstable, or conflicting activity

   The disputed border became a cauldron of political tension.

From Middle English caudroun, borrowed from Old Northern French caudron and ultimately from Late Latin caldaria, 'cooking pot,' from Latin caldus, 'hot.' The l was later restored in the spelling under Latin influence. Its figurative sense compares a turbulent place or situation to a pot of violently boiling contents.

Topics