scald

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /skɔld/ UK /skɔːld/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to burn with hot liquid or steam; an injury so caused

Be careful not to scald yourself on the boiling kettle.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to burn with hot liquid or... burn sear blister scorch parboil

Opposites

freeze chill

Word family

Forms scaldingly

Derived forms scalding

Simplified etymology

Scald comes from Anglo-Norman French escalder, derived from late Latin excaldare, “wash in hot water.” The Latin verb combines ex-, here meaning “thoroughly,” with calidus, “hot.”

Etymology

From Old North French escalder ('to scald'), from Late Latin excaldare ('to wash in hot water'), from ex- ('out, thoroughly') + calidus ('hot').

excaldare Latin calidus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# scald

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /skɔld/
**IPA (UK):** /skɔːld/

## Meanings
1. to burn with hot liquid or steam; an injury so caused

## Examples
- Be careful not to scald yourself on the boiling kettle.

## Synonyms
- burn
- sear
- blister
- scorch
- parboil

## Antonyms
- freeze
- chill

## Derived Forms
- scalding

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: excaldare
- Root: calidus

## Etymology
From Old North French escalder ('to scald'), from Late Latin excaldare ('to wash in hot water'), from ex- ('out, thoroughly') + calidus ('hot').

## AI Etymology
Scald comes from Old North French escalder ('to scald'), from Late Latin excaldare ('to wash in hot water'), from ex- ('out, thoroughly') + calidus ('hot'). The historical chain includes Latin excaldare and Latin calidus. Older glosses in the chain include "to scald", "to wash in hot water", "out, thoroughly", and "hot", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, scald is best read as compound and borrowing, yielding an English verb and noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a verb and noun, with the sense "to burn with hot liquid or steam; an injury so caused". English derivatives include scalding. The result is an English verb and noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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