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calque

[ kalk ]
/ kælk /
Linguistics
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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 Germanhalbinsel for peninsula.
verb (used with object), calqued, cal·quing.
to form (a word or phrase) through the process of loan translation.
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Origin of calque

1655–65; <French, noun derivative of calquer to copy, base on <Italian calcare to trace over, tread <Latin: to trample
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

British Dictionary definitions for calque

calque
/ (kælk) /

noun
another word for loan translation
verb calques, calquing or calqued
(tr) another word for calk 3

Word Origin for calque

C20: from French: a tracing, from calquer, from Latin calcāre to tread
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
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