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The word calamari was borrowed into English from 17th-century Italian, where it functioned as the plural of "calamaro" or "calamaio." The Italian word, in turn, comes from the Medieval Latin noun calamarium, meaning "ink pot or "pen case," and can be ultimately traced back to Latin calamus, meaning "reed pen." The transition from pens and ink to squid is not surprising, given the inky substance that a squid ejects and the long tapered shape of the squid's body. English speakers have also adopted "calamus" itself as a word referring to both a reed pen and to a number of plants.
Examples of calamari in a Sentence
Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 23 May 2024
And the kitchen turns out food — beet salad, calamari and pesto pasta, as well as burgers and fish and chips — that’s a cut above the usual pub fare.
—Jay R. Brooks, The Mercury News, 21 May 2024
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'calamari.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Calamari.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calamari. Accessed 1 Jun. 2024.
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calamari
noun
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