calle

See also: çallë, callé, and Calle

Albanian

Etymology

From call +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡saɫɛ]

Adjective

calle

1. (regional) feminine of call (“inapt, unuseful, naive”)

   Synonyms: papërshtatshme, paaftë, axhami

Asturian

Noun

calle f (plural calles)

1. alternative form of cai

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish calle, from Latin callis, callem.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aʎe
• Hyphenation: ca‧lle

Noun

calle

1. street

Galician

Verb

calle

1. inflection of callar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

Etymology

From Latin callem (“path”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkal.le/
• Rhymes: -alle
• Hyphenation: càl‧le

Noun

calle f (plural calli)

1. (archaic) (narrow) path

   Synonyms: sentiero, stradina

   • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto X”, in Inferno [Hell], lines 1–3; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     Or sen va per un secreto calle, ¶ tra ’l muro de la terra e li martìri, ¶ lo mio maestro, e io dopo le spalle.

     Now onward goes, along a narrow path between the torments and the city wall, ⁠my Master, and I follow at his back.

2. (archaic) route, way, road

   Synonyms: cammino, tragitto

   • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto I”, in Inferno [Hell], lines 16–18; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     […] guardai in alto e vidi le sue spalle ¶ vestite già de’ raggi del pianeta ¶ che mena dritto altrui per ogne calle.

     Upward I looked, and I beheld its shoulders, vested already with that planet's rays which leadeth others right by every road.

3. (Venice) alley (especially in Venice)

Anagrams

• -cella, cella

Latin

Verb

callē

1. second-person singular present active imperative of calleō

References

• “calle”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Spanish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaʝe/ [ˈka.ʝe]

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaʝe/ [ˈka.ʝe] (Spain, most of Latin America, Equatorial Guinea)
• IPA^(key): /ˈkaʎe/ [ˈka.ʎe] (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /ˈkaʃe/ [ˈka.ʃe] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /ˈkaʒe/ [ˈka.ʒe] (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /ˈkae/ [ˈka.e] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

 

• Rhymes: -aʝe

• Rhymes: -aʝe (Spain, most of Latin America, Equatorial Guinea)
• Rhymes: -aʎe (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -aʃe (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -aʒe (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• Rhymes: -ae (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Syllabification: ca‧lle
• Homophone: Calle

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kel-der.

Latin callis

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Latin -sder.

Latin -em

Latin callem

Old Spanish cal, calle

Spanish calle

Inherited from Old Spanish cal, calle, from Latin callem. For the retention/analogical restoration of final /e/ after /ʎ/, compare valle and conversely piel.

Alternative forms

• c/ (abbreviation)

Noun

calle f (plural calles, diminutive callecita or callecilla or calleja)

1. street

   Los estudiantes salieron a la calle en una manifestación enorme.

   The students took the street in a massive demonstration.

2. (with definite article) outdoors, outside

   salir a la calle ― to go outside (outdoors) (can also mean "to the street")

   estar en la calle ― to be outside (outdoors) (can also mean "on the street")

3. (slang, uncountable) street smarts

   tener calle ― to be street-smart, to have learned from the streets

   no tienes calle ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

4. lane (in a pool or racetrack, but not a highway)

   Synonym: carril

   • 2026 November 3 (last accessed), David Galindo, change.org‎^[1], Spain:

     La piscina del sureste ha pasado de tener ocho calles a nueve, pero esta "mejora" ha resultado en una significativa reducción del espacio entre calles. Como resultado, los nadadores nos vemos forzados a nadar en espacios más estrechos, lo cual ha dado lugar a incontables accidentes: arañazos, patadas totalmente involuntarias pero no menos dolorosas, golpes con la cabeza al voltear…

     The southeastern pool has gone from having eight lanes to nine, but this "improvement" has resulted in a significant reduction in the space between lanes. As a result, we swimmers find ourselves forced to swim in tighter spaces, which has given rise to countless accidents: scratches, totally involuntary but no less painful kicks, collisions on the head when turning around...

Hyponyms

street

• alameda
• avenida
• bulevar
• callejón
• travesía

Derived terms

• a la puta calle
• a pie de calle
• aplanar calles
• azotacalles
• bocacalle
• calle de boxes
• calle de garajes
• calle de la amargura
• calle de rodaje
• calle sin salida
• callecita
• calleja
• callejero
• callejón
• callejuela
• correcalles
• de calle
• doblar la calle
• echar a la calle
• echarse a la calle
• en situación de calle
• encallar
• entre las calles
• estar al cabo de la calle
• faltar calle
• hombre de la calle
• mujer de la calle
• poner de patitas en la calle
• poner en la calle

Descendants

• Chavacano: calle
• → Basque: kale
• → Baure: kaye
• → Hiligaynon: kalye
• → Tagalog: kalye

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

calle

1. inflection of callar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “calle”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026

Anagrams

• lleca

Tarantino

Adjective

calle

1. warm