candle

From Middle English candel, from Old English candel (“candle”), borrowed from Latin candēla (“candle”), from Latin candeō (“be white, bright, shining”, verb); see candid. Doublet of candela.

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkændəl/, /ˈkændl̩/

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• Rhymes: -ændəl

candle (plural candles)

1. A light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow, or paraffin.
2. The protruding, removable portion of a filter, particularly a water filter.
3. (obsolete) A unit of luminous intensity, now replaced by the SI unit candela.
4. (forestry) A fast-growing, light-colored, upward-growing shoot on a pine tree in the spring. As growth slows in summer, the shoot darkens and is no longer conspicuous.

• ear candle
• Roman candle

• candelabrum
• candela
• candid
• candidate
• candlepower
• candlestick
• chandelier
• chandler
• chandlery

• Sranan Tongo: kandra

candle (third-person singular simple present candles, present participle candling, simple past and past participle candled)

1. (embryology, transitive) To observe the growth of an embryo inside (an egg), using a bright light source.
2. (pottery) To dry greenware prior to beginning of the firing cycle, setting the kiln at 200° Celsius until all water is removed from the greenware.
3. To check an item (such as an envelope) by holding it between a light source and the eye.

• candle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• candle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

• Declan, lanced