English Online Dictionary. What means candle? What does candle mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English candel, from Old English candel (“candle”), borrowed from Latin candēla (“candle”), from Latin candeō (“be white, bright, shining”, verb); see candid. Doublet of candela and chandelle.
Pronunciation
- (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkændəl/, /ˈkændl̩/
- Rhymes: -ændəl
Noun
candle (plural candles)
- A light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow, or paraffin.
- The protruding, removable portion of a filter, particularly a water filter.
- (obsolete) A unit of luminous intensity, now replaced by the SI unit candela.
- (forestry) A fast-growing, light-colored, upward-growing shoot on a pine tree in the spring. As growth slows in summer, the shoot darkens and is no longer conspicuous.
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- Sranan Tongo: kandra
- → Chichewa: kandulo
Translations
Verb
candle (third-person singular simple present candles, present participle candling, simple past and past participle candled)
- (embryology, transitive) To observe the growth of an embryo inside (an egg), using a bright light source.
- (pottery, transitive) To dry (greenware) prior to the firing cycle, setting the kiln at 200° Celsius until all water is removed from the greenware.
- (transitive) To check (an item, such as an envelope) by holding it between a light source and the eye.
Further reading
- “candle”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “candle”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
- Declan, calend, lanced