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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
Laura Ness, Mercury News, 25 May 2025
Highly recommended, too, is a heaping plate of crunchy calamari, best enjoyed at a table while taking in the assorted bric-á-brac hanging throughout the restaurant like kitschy little reminders into Charlotte’s culinary past.
—Timothy Depeugh, Charlotte Observer, 1 May 2025
Food options include burrata, calamari, limoncello cake, pappardelle al brasato, rigatoni carbonara and salmone alla arancia.
—Carlos Rico, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 May 2025
It will be redeveloped, probably to accommodate people who can hit a bucket of balls and have an appletini and some calamari before retiring to their new townhome.
—David Petitti, Chicago Tribune, 14 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Calamari.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calamari. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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calamari
noun
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