▪ I. calibre, caliber, n.
(ˈkælɪbə(r): occas. ˈkəliːbr)
Also 6–8 caliver, 8 calabar, calliber, -bre, caliper, calabre.
[a. F. calibre (qualibre in Cotgr. 1611) = It. calibro, Sp. calibre (OSp. also calibo, Diez) of uncertain origin; the Arab. qālib ‘mould for casting metal’, or some cognate derivative of qalaba to turn, has been suggested as the source. See calliper.
(Mahn conjectured as source L. quâ librâ of what weight?)
Calibre and Calliper(s are apparently originally the same word. Several 16th c. writers assign the same origin to caliver, the name of a species of harquebus, as if this were derived from arquebuse de calibre, or some similar name. Littré has ‘douze canons de calibre d'empereur (12 cannons of emperor's calibre) pour la batterie’ of 16th c. The frequent use of caliver in the sense of calibre, in the 16th and 17th c., appears to favour this.]
1. † a. The diameter of a bullet, cannon-ball, or other projectile. Obs. b. Hence, The internal diameter or ‘bore’ of a gun.
(As the ‘calibre’ of a piece of ordnance determines the weight of the projectile it can throw, phrases like ‘guns of heavy calibre’ often occur in popular use.)
| 1588 E. York Ord. Marshall. City London in Stow's Surv. (1754) II. v. xxxi. 570/1 We had our particular Calibre of Harquebuze..The Prynces..caused seven thousand Harquebuzes to be made, all of one Calibre. 1591 Sir J. Smythe Instruct. Militarie 189, I would that all their bullettes should be of one Caliver. a 1595 ― Animadv. Capt. Berwick in Grose Mil. Antiq. (1801) 297 A harquebuze and a currier, both..of one caliver heighthe of bullet. 1678 Phillips, Caliber, in Gunnery the heighth of the bore in any peice of Ordnance. 1708 Kersey, Caliver or Caliper, the Bigness, or rather the Diameter of a piece of Ordnance, or any other Fire-arms at the Bore or Mouth. 1746 Rep. Cond. Sir J. Cope 99 All the Cannon was of the same Caliber, being 1½ Pounders. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The caliber is the rule by which all the parts of a cannon, or mortar, as well as of its carriage, are proportioned. 1778 Phil. Trans. LXVIII. 65 The bore..was nearly 20½ calibers long. 1803 Wellington Let. in Gurw. Disp. II. 327 We..have taken about 60 pieces of cannon..of the largest calibres. |
c. transf. The diameter of any body of circular section; esp. the internal diameter of a tube or hollow cylinder; in Phys. chiefly of an artery.
| 1727–51 Chambers Cycl., Caliber or Caliper, in a general sense, notes the extent of any round thing in thickness, or diameter. In which sense we say, a column is of the same caliber as another, when they are both of the same diameter. 1764 Reid Inquiry vi. §19 The caliber of these empty tubes. 1836 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 77/2 If we brace the arteries..we shall find their calibres everywhere diminished. |
2. fig. † a. Degree of social standing or importance, quality, rank. [The earliest cited sense; prob. from Fr.] Obs. b. Degree of personal capacity or ability; ‘weight’ of character; (often with conscious reference to 1). In wider sense: Quality, ‘stamp’, degree of merit or importance.
| 1567 Fenton Trag. Disc. 164 The forfeiture of the honor of a ladye of equall calibre [elsewhere spelt calabre] and callinge to mee. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Skiamachia Wks. (1711) 199 Sir Henry Vane, or others of such calibre? 1791 Burke App. Whigs Wks. VI. 108 Declamations of this kind coming from men of their Calibre..were highly mischievous. 1808 Scott in Lockhart i. (1842) 9/1 The calibre of this young man's understanding. 1826 J. Gilchrist Lecture 55 We know the Doctor's caliber well enough. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown Pref., Playing against an eleven of their own calibre. 1860 Mill Repr. Govt. (1865) 57/2 Majorities would be compelled to look out for members of a much higher calibre. 1870 Disraeli Lothair xxviii. 125 The host, with the Duke of Brecon on his right and Lothair on his left, and ‘swells’ of calibre in their vicinity. |
3. pl. calibers. = callipers.
4. attrib. and in comb., as in calibre-rule, -scale (see quots.); calibre-compasses, -square: see calliper.
| 1729 G. Shelvocke Artillery i. 1 The Calibre Scale..an Instrument or Ruler..to determine the Weights of all Iron Bullets by their Diameters. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., Caliber-rule is an instrument, wherein a right line is so divided, as that the first part being equal to the diameter of an iron or leaden ball of one pound weight, the other parts are to the first, as the diameters of balls of two, three, four, etc., pounds, are to the diameter of a ball of one pound. The caliber is used by engineers, from the weight of the ball given, to determine its diameter, or caliber; or vice versa. |
▪ II. † calibre, -ber, v. Obs.
(ˈkælɪbə(r))
[f. prec. Cf. F. calibrer.]
trans. To determine the calibre of; to measure with callipers. Hence ˈcalibered, -bred ppl. a.
| 1731 in Bailey, vol. II. 1775 in Ash. |