caldera

[kal-der-uh, kawl-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR caldera ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a large, basinlike depression resulting from the explosion or collapse of the center of a volcano.

Origin of caldera

1860–65; < Spanish Caldera, name of a crater on Canary Islands, literally, cauldron < Late Latin caldāria, noun use of feminine of caldārius of warming; see caldarium

Can be confusedcaldera fumarole geyser volcano

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for caldera

mouth, hole, pit, abyss, opening, bowl, hollow, depression

Examples from the Web for caldera

Contemporary Examples of caldera

Below lies the turquoise waters of the caldera, flecked with the white triangles of sailing boats.
Book a Room for Two in a Santorini Cave
Joanna Eede
June 10, 2014
Situated at 5,400 feet, it's encircled by jagged peaks that make you feel you're cupped inside a caldera.
Big-Sky West Texas: A Road Trip Through Hidden America
Condé Nast Traveler
March 18, 2014

Historical Examples of caldera

Caldera's wife was the only one that did not forget the accident.
Luna Benamor
Vicente Blasco Ibez
View of the Isle of Palma, and of the entrance into the central cavity or Caldera.
A Manual of Elementary Geology
Charles Lyell.
I marvel now that the "Caldera" should have lived through the storm.
A Lady's Captivity among Chinese Pirates in the Chinese Seas
Fanny Loviot
I am a Frenchwoman, and was a passenger on board the 'Caldera.'
A Lady's Captivity among Chinese Pirates in the Chinese Seas
Fanny Loviot
However this may have been, Caldera went to serve under Ancostan an officer of the king of Bisnagar.
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume VI
Robert Kerr

British Dictionary definitions for caldera

caldera

noun

a large basin-shaped crater at the top of a volcano, formed by the collapse or explosion of the coneSee cirque

Word Origin for caldera

C19: from Spanish Caldera (literally: cauldron), name of a crater in the Canary Islands

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

Word Origin and History for caldera

"cavity on the summit of a volcano," 1865, from Spanish caldera "cauldron, kettle," from Latin caldarium, caldarius "pertaining to warming," from calidus "warm, hot" (see calorie).

caldera in Science

caldera

[kăl-dâr′ə, -dîr′ə, käl-]

A large, roughly circular crater left after a volcanic explosion or the collapse of a volcanic cone. Calderas are typically much wider in diameter than the openings of the vents from which they were formed.