calque

American

[kalk] / kælk /

noun

a loan translation, especially one resulting from bilingual interference in which the internal structure of a borrowed word or phrase is maintained but its morphemes are replaced by those of the native language, as German halbinsel for peninsula.
loanshift.

verb (used with object)

calqued, calquing

to form (a word or phrase) through the process of loan translation.

calque British

/ kælk /

noun

another word for loan translation

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

(tr) another word for calk 3

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of calque

1655–65; < French, noun derivative of calquer to copy, base on < Italian calcare to trace over, tread < Latin: to trample

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

By the way, I knew the difference between a loanword and a calque and the Defiant Ones, but not what was going on in the car with Giardia.

From Slate • Mar. 8, 2013

For example, did you know the difference between a loanword and a calque?

From Slate • Mar. 8, 2013

This done, one of the knights closed his visor, and the other tried to follow his example, but the calque, dented from the effects of a blow, refused to allow the visor to descend.

From The Winning of the Golden Spurs by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023