calorie

Meaning

1. Kilogram calorie or large calorie. A unit of energy 1000 times larger than the gram calorie. It is equivalent to the gram kilocalorie, about 4.2 kilojoules.
2. (obsolete) The gram calorie or small calorie, a non-SI unit of energy, equivalent to approximately 4.2 joules. This unit was widely used in chemistry and physics, being the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1°C.

Concepts

calorie

gram calorie

small calorie

c

cal

calorific value

quantity of heat

calorie unit

caloric unit

heat unit

thermal unit

unit of heat

Calorie

heat capacity

kilogram calorie

large calorie

nutritionist’s calorie

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkæləɹi/

Etymology

Borrowed from French calorie, formed from Latin calor. It was originally defined as the large calorie in the early 19th century, with the small calorie being defined some decades later.