What does calamar mean?
Calamar is a noun referring to a squid, especially one prepared and served as food. The word is a variant of the more familiar calamari, which entered English through Italian, whereas calamar reflects the French and Spanish forms of the same culinary borrowing. In practice, English speakers most often encounter calamar on restaurant menus — particularly those with French, Spanish, or Mediterranean influences — where it may denote fried, grilled, or otherwise cooked squid dishes. Like calamari, it can be treated as a mass noun when describing the dish ('a plate of calamar') or, more rarely, as a count noun for the animal itself. Its etymology is unexpectedly literary: the word descends from Latin calamus, meaning 'reed' or 'pen', a reference to the slender, pen-like internal shell found in many squids. Though less common than its Italian-derived cousin, calamar remains a legitimate and recognizable term in culinary English.
nounA squid, especially when prepared as food; a less common spelling of calamari.
- A squid, particularly as served or prepared as food
"The tapas bar served grilled calamar drizzled with olive oil and lemon."
"For starters, we ordered crispy fried calamar with aioli."
"The fisherman displayed fresh calamar at the morning market stall."
When used as a count noun referring to individual squid, the plural is formed regularly with -s; when used as a mass noun for the dish, it is typically uninflected.
"The market stall sold fresh calamars caught that morning."
The word calamar traces back to Latin calamus — meaning 'pen' — because a squid's internal shell looks like an old-fashioned quill.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of calamar
Calamar derives ultimately from Late Latin calamarium, itself from Latin calamus meaning 'reed pen' or 'quill', so named for the squid's slim, pen-shaped internal shell. It reached English by way of French calmar/calamar and Spanish calamar, making it a sibling of the more common English form calamari, which arrived via Italian. The word has been used in English since around the early nineteenth century, chiefly in culinary contexts.
How calamar is actually used
Calamar is considerably rarer in English than calamari and is often encountered on menus influenced by French or Spanish cuisine, where it is the standard term. It functions as both a mass noun (referring to the dish) and a count noun (referring to individual squid).
Easily confused with calamar
Calamari is the far more common English term for squid as food (from the Italian plural), while calamar is a variant spelling closer to the French and Spanish forms.