French word

calciner

Pronunciation

IPA/kalsine/

Meaning

  • verbburn

Example

L'incendie a calciné le village.

The fire burned the village to ashes.

Illustration for calciner (burn)

More examples

Le feu a calciné la voiture.

The fire burned the car to a cinder.

Core concept

A fierce fire strips a solid of its original form, leaving only carbonized matter or mineral ash.

Similar words

brûler: To set something alight or destroy it with fire or heat.
noircir: To darken the outside of something until it turns black.
roussir: To scorch the surface slightly, giving it brown or dark marks.

Definition in French

Brûler fortement une matière jusqu'à la carboniser ou à la transformer en cendre.

Word origin

The French verb calciner is a learned borrowing related to Latin calx, "lime", through the Latin verb calcinare for making lime by strong heating.

Usage tips

  • Calciner belongs mainly to technical or formal usage, while ordinary speech often uses brûler for less specialized burning.

Other meanings

  • scorchverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word