What does calamary mean?
Calamary is an English noun meaning a squid — one of the swift, torpedo-shaped cephalopod molluscs with eight arms and two long tentacles that propel themselves by jetting water and defend themselves with clouds of ink. The term entered English around the early seventeenth century and derives ultimately from Latin calamus, meaning a reed or pen, via calamarium, a case for writing pens; the name was suggested by the squid's long, slender internal shell, which resembles a quill. For centuries calamary appeared in naturalists' accounts and in cookery writing, where it referred to the squid both as a marine animal and as food. Today it has largely fallen out of everyday use, displaced by 'squid', which came into English separately from a nautical source, and by 'calamari', an Italian borrowing used on menus for fried or otherwise prepared squid dishes. Encountering 'calamary' today is therefore most likely in historical, scientific, or literary contexts, where it lends a pleasantly antique flavour to descriptions of marine life.
nounA squid; a ten-armed cephalopod mollusc of the order Teuthida, especially when considered as food. The word is now largely archaic, having been supplanted in common use by 'squid' and the borrowed Italian plural 'calamari'.
- A squid, a ten-armed cephalopod mollusc of the order Teuthida.
- (In older usage) the squid considered as an article of food.
"The naturalist's journals described every calamary brought up in the trawl nets with meticulous anatomical detail."
"The fishermen hauled in several large calamaries along with the morning's catch."
"Victorian cookery books offered careful instructions for preparing fresh calamary."
The regular plural is 'calamaries'; the uninflected Latinate form 'calamary' also appears in older texts.
"The market stall displayed fresh calamaries stacked on crushed ice."
Before we called it squid, English speakers named this ink-squirting creature after a reed pen — because its internal shell really does look like an old-fashioned quill.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of calamary
The word 'calamary' entered English in the early seventeenth century, borrowed from New Latin calamarium, itself derived from Latin calamus, meaning 'reed' or 'pen made from a reed'. The connection lies in the squid's internal shell, a long thin chitinous structure resembling a quill pen, which early writers found reminiscent of a pen case. The same Latin root calamus gives us related words such as 'calamari' (via Italian) and underlies terms like 'calumet'. Over time 'calamary' gave way in ordinary speech to 'squid' and to the Italian-derived 'calamari', leaving it as a largely historical synonym.
How calamary is actually used
'Calamary' is now chiefly encountered in historical texts, natural history writing of earlier centuries, and dictionaries; contemporary speakers almost always say 'squid' (for the animal) or 'calamari' (for the dish). It is a countable noun whose standard plural is either the regular 'calamaries' or the unchanged Latinate form 'calamary'.
Easily confused with calamary
'Calamari' is the modern culinary term for squid served as food (borrowed from Italian), while 'calamary' is an older English form referring to the squid itself as an animal.