caliente
Lemma Details
Translation: hot; warm; heated; spicy; passionate
Part of Speech: adjective
Etymology: From Latin 'calens, calentis', present participle of 'calere' meaning 'to be warm or hot'. This shares the same Indo-European root '*kel-' (warm) that gave English words like 'calorie', 'cauldron', and 'calescent'. The Spanish word maintains the direct connection to heat that is seen in many Romance languages.
Commonality: 90%
Guessability: 60%
Register: neutral
Mnemonics
- Think of 'caliente' as related to 'calories' which produce heat in the body.
- Remember the phrase 'chili caliente' - chili peppers are hot and spicy.
- The word sounds a bit like 'calling heat' - when something is caliente, it's calling out its heat.
Related Words, Phrases & Idioms
Cultural Context
In Spanish-speaking countries, 'caliente' is commonly used to describe temperature, spicy food, and passionate situations. However, be careful as in some contexts, especially in Latin America, it can have sexual connotations when applied to people, similar to 'hot' in English slang.
Easily Confused With
Explanation: While both mean 'warm', 'caliente' typically refers to something that is physically hot or heated, while 'cálido' often describes a pleasant warmth or warm atmosphere/feeling.
Notes: 'Caliente' is more commonly used for immediate temperature sensations, while 'cálido' often describes environmental or emotional warmth.
Mnemonic: 'Caliente' has 'ente' which sounds like 'intense' - it's more intensely hot than 'cálido'.
Explanation: 'Caliente' can mean 'spicy' in some contexts, but 'picante' specifically refers to spiciness in food. 'Caliente' primarily means 'hot' in terms of temperature.
This word:
La comida está caliente, acaba de salir del horno.
The food is hot, it just came out of the oven.
Confused word:
Este chile es muy picante.
This chili is very spicy.
Notes: When describing food, be careful to distinguish between temperature (caliente) and spiciness (picante).
Mnemonic: 'Picante' has 'pic' which sounds like 'pick' - it picks at your tongue with spiciness.