Etymology From French calque (“calque”, literally “copy, tracing”), from calquer (“to copy, trace”) (whence also calk), itself borrowed from Italian calcare, from Latin calcāre (“to tread”). Doublet of calcate and calcation.
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Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences, Translation studies A word or phrase in a language formed by word-for-word or morpheme-by-morpheme translation of a word in another language.
David S. Powers, professor of Islamic history and law at Cornell, says he thinks that the word as used today is in the nature of what linguists call a calque, a borrowing from another language in literal translation […]2005 March 27, William Safire, “Kifaya!”, in The New York Times Magazine, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2021:
Those phrases, translated from Spanish, are known as calques. […] The three young Miamians in the video also use “super” as an adverb, one of the calques from Spanish mentioned in Dr. Carter’s research. (“Ay, I’m super bloated.”)2023 July 26, Patricia Mazzei, “‘Get Down’ From the Car. ‘Make’ the Line. Is Miami English a Dialect?”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 31 Jul 2023:
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One of the primary benefits of calque is its ability to enhance cross-cultural communication.2024 June 7, Soumaya Amine Al Salti, “Calque Examples in Translating: Impacts on Linguistic Diversity”, in Soumaya Salti, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2025:
Etymology From French calque (“calque”, literally “copy, tracing”), from calquer (“to copy, trace”) (whence also calk), itself borrowed from Italian calcare, from Latin calcāre (“to tread”). Doublet of calcate and calcation.
1
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences, Translation studies To adopt (a word or phrase) from one language to another by semantic translation of its parts.
Terms like "cloud computing" have been calqued into multiple languages, making it easier for global audiences to grasp complex technological concepts. […] For example, translating Shakespeare's works into other languages often involves calquing phrases to maintain the rhythm and metaphorical richness of the original.2024 June 7, Soumaya Amine Al Salti, “Calque Examples in Translating: Impacts on Linguistic Diversity”, in Soumaya Salti, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2025: