candle

English

A candle—a light source

Etymology

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 and chandelle.

Pronunciation

(General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkændəl/, /ˈkændl̩/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ændəl

Noun

candle (plural candles)

A light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow, or paraffin.
light a candle
blow out the candles on the birthday cake
snuff out the candle
The protruding, removable portion of a filter, particularly a water filter.
(obsolete) A unit of luminous intensity, now replaced by the SI unit candela.
(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.

Derived terms

better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness
better to light one candle than to curse the darkness
better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness
burn one's candle at both ends
burn the candle at both ends
candlebark (Eucalyptus rubida)
candleberry (Myrica spp,)
candlebomb
candle coal
candle dance
candle-end
candlefish
candleflame
candleglow
candleholder
candle holder
candle in the wind
candleless
candlelight
candlelighted
candlelighter
candlelight vigil
candlelike
candlelit
candle magick
candlemaker
candlemaking
Candlemas
candlenut (Aleurites spp.)
candlepin
candlepower
candle power
candler
candle-shade
candleshine
candle snuffer
candlestand
candlestick
candle-stub
candle tree
candle-waster
candlewaster
candle-wasting
candle wax
candlewood (Fouquieria splendens)
composite candle
corpse candle
decimal candle
desert candle
devil's candle
dip candle
dipped candle
ear candle
Easter candle
electric candle
fetch candle
foot candle
foot-candle
hold a candle
hold a candle for
mineral candle
not worth the candle
oxygen candle
paschal candle
pillar candle
Roman candle
rush candle
sell by the candle
standard candle
sulfur candle
sulphur candle
taper candle
tea candle
the game is not worth the candle
votive candle
wax-candle
Yablochkov candle

Related terms

candela
candelabrum
candid
candidate
chandelier
chandler
chandlery

Descendants

Sranan Tongo: kandra
→ Chichewa: kandulo

Translations

a light source

Abkhaz: ацәымза (acʷəmza)
Acehnese: lilén
Afar: please add this translation if you can
Afrikaans: kers (af)
Albanian: qiri (sq) m
Amharic: ቫማ (vama)
Arabic: شَمْعَة‎ f (šamʕa), قِنْدِيل‎ (ar) m (qindīl)
Hijazi Arabic: شَمْعَة‎ f (šamʿa)
Armenian: մոմ (hy) (mom)
Aromanian: luminare f, lunjinare f, lumbardã, ayiucheri
Assamese: please add this translation if you can
Asturian: vela (ast) f
Azerbaijani: şam (az), mum (az)
Bashkir: шәм (şäm), май шәм (may şäm)
Basque: kandela
Belarusian: све́чка f (svjéčka)
Bengali: মোমবাতি (bn) (mombati), শামা (śama)
Bhojpuri: 𑂧𑂷𑂧𑂥𑂞𑂹𑂞𑂲 (mombattī)
Bouyei: xugt, sancxugt
Bulgarian: свещ (bg) f (svešt)
Burmese: ဖယောင်းတိုင် (my) (hpa.yaung:tuing)
Catalan: espelma (ca) f, candela (ca) f
Cebuano: kandila
Chakma: please add this translation if you can
Chamicuro: kajchi
Chechen: чӏурам (čʼuram)
Chichewa: kandulo
Chinese:
Cantonese: 蠟燭／蜡烛, 蜡烛 (laap⁶ zuk¹)
Dungan: ла (la)
Mandarin: 蠟燭／蜡烛 (zh) (làzhú), 蠟／蜡 (zh) (là), 燭／烛 (zh) (zhú)
Classical Nahuatl: xīcohcuitlaocōtl
Cornish: kantol
Crimean Tatar: çıraq
Czech: svíce (cs) f, svíčka (cs) f
Danish: lys (da), stearinlys (da)
Dhivehi: އުއްބައްތި‎ (ubbatti)
Dutch: kaars (nl) f
Erzya: штатол (štatol)
Esperanto: kandelo
Estonian: küünal (et)
Faroese: kerta f, kertiljós n
Finnish: kynttilä (fi)
French: bougie (fr) f, chandelle (fr) f
Old French: chandoile f
Middle French: chandelle f
Friulian: cjandele f, čhandele f
Galician: candea (gl) f
Georgian: სანთელი (santeli)
German: Kerze (de) f
Gothic: 𐌻𐌿𐌺𐌰𐍂𐌽 (lukarn)
Greek: κερί (el) n (kerí)
Ancient: κηρίων m (kēríōn)
Greenlandic: naneruut
Gujarati: મીણબત્તી (mīṇbattī)
Hausa: kyándìr̃ (ha)
Hebrew: נֵר‎ (he) m (ner)
Hindi: मोमबत्ती (hi) f (mombattī), शमा (hi) f (śamā)
Hungarian: gyertya (hu)
Hunsrik: Kerz f
Icelandic: kerti (is) n
Ido: kandelo (io), bujio (io)
Inari Sami: kiintâl
Indonesian: lilin (id)
Ingrian: toohus
Ingush: кӏерам (kʼeram)
Iranun: please add this translation if you can
Irish: coinneal (ga) f
Isthmus Zapotec: guiʼriʼ
Italian: candela (it) f
Japanese: 蝋燭 (ja) (ろうそく, rōsoku)
Javanese: lilin (jv)
Kalmyk: ла (la)
Kannada: ಮೋಂಬತ್ತಿ (kn) (mōmbatti)
Karakalpak: sham
Kashubian: swiéca f
Kazakh: шам (şam), май шам (mai şam)
Ket: dikkit
Khmer: ទៀន (km) (tiən)
Korean: 초 (ko) (cho), 양초 (ko) (yangcho)
Kyrgyz: шам (ky) (şam)
Ladin: please add this translation if you can
Lao: ທຽນ (lo) (thīan)
Latin: candēla f
Latvian: svece f
Lawa:
Eastern Lawa: ตี-เอิน
Ligurian: candeja f
Lithuanian: žvakė (lt) f
Lombard: candela (lmo) f, candila (lmo) f
Luxembourgish: Käerz (lb) f, Bougie f
Macedonian: све́ќа f (svéḱa)
Magahi: 𑂧𑂷𑂧𑂥𑂞𑂹𑂞𑂲 (mombattī)
Maguindanao: ransuk
Maithili: please add this translation if you can
Malagasy: labozia (mg)
Malay: lilin
Malayalam: മെഴുകുതിരി (ml) (meḻukutiri)
Maltese: xemgħa f
Manchu: ᠠᠶᠠᠨ
ᡩᡝᠩᠵᠠᠨ (ayan dengjan)
Manx: cainle f
Maranao: ransok
Marathi: मेणबत्ती (meṇbattī)
Minangkabau: lilin
Moksha: штатол (štatol)
Mongolian: лаа (mn) (laa)
Nanai: ла
Navajo: akʼah diltłiʼí, akʼahkǫʼ níyizígíí
Neapolitan: ceroggeno m
Norman: caundèle
Northern Khmer: please add this translation if you can
Northern Sami: ginttal
Northern Thai: ᨴ᩠ᨿᩁ (tian)
Norwegian: lys (no)
Bokmål: stearinlys (no) n, vokslys n, levende lys n
Nynorsk: stearinlys n, vokslys n
Occitan: candèla (oc) f
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: свѣшта f (svěšta)
Old East Slavic: свѣча f (svěča)
Old English: candel f
Oriya: ବତି (or) (bôti)
Oromo: dungoo
Ossetian: цырагъ (cyraǧ)
Ottoman Turkish: موم‎ (mum), شمع‎ (şemʿ)
Pashto: شمعه‎ f (šám'a)
Persian: شمع‎ (fa) (šam')
Piedmontese: candèila f
Plautdietsch: Taulchlicht n
Polabian: swecja f
Polish: świeca (pl) f, świeczka (pl) f, gromnica (pl) f (blessed candle)
Portuguese: vela (pt) f
Punjabi: ਮੋਮਬੱਤੀ (mombattī)
Quechua: wila
Rakhine: please add this translation if you can
Rohingya: mumbatti
Romagnol: please add this translation if you can
Romani: momeli f
Romanian: lumânare (ro) f
Romansch: chandaila f
Russian: свеча́ (ru) f (svečá), све́чка (ru) f (svéčka)
Saho: shimca
Sanskrit: मधुजवर्ती (madhujavartī)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: свећа f, свијећа f, лојаница f (tallow candle), воштаница f (wax candle)
Roman: sveća f, svijeća f, lojanica (sh) f (tallow candle), voštanica (sh) f (wax candle)
Sinhalese: ඉටිපන්දම (iṭipandama), විලක්කුව (wilakkuwa), ඉටිපන්‍දම (iṭipandama)
Slovak: svieca f, sviečka f
Slovene: sveča (sl) f
Somali: shumac m
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: swěcka f
Upper Sorbian: swěčka (hsb) f
Spanish: vela (es) f, candela (es) f, cirio (es) m
Sranan Tongo: kandra
Swahili: mshumaa (sw) class 3
Swedish: ljus (sv) n
Sylheti: please add this translation if you can
Tabasaran: шам (šam)
Tagalog: kandila, sasang
Tajik: шамъ (tg) (šamʾ)
Tamil: மெழுகுவர்த்தி (ta) (meḻukuvartti), மெழுகுதிரி (ta) (meḻukutiri)
Tatar: шәм (tt) (şäm)
Tausug: lansuk
Telugu: కొవ్వొత్తి (te) (kovvotti)
Thai: เทียน (th) (tiian)
Tibetan: ཡང་ལཱ (yang lā), ཚིལ་བཞུ (tshil bzhu)
Turkish: mum (tr)
Turkmen: şem (tk)
Ukrainian: сві́чка (uk) f (svíčka)
Urdu: موم بتی‎ (mom battī), شمع‎ f (śamā)
Uyghur: شام‎ (ug) (sham)
Uzbek: shamchiroq (uz), sham (uz)
Vietnamese: nến (vi), đèn cầy
Volapük: kandel (vo)
Welsh: cannwyll f
Yakan: lansuk
Yakut: чүмэчи (çümeçi)
Yiddish: ליכט‎ n or f (likht)
Yucatec Maya: k'aak' che'
Zhuang: lab, labcuk
Zulu: ikhandlela sg

Verb

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

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

Anagrams

Declan, calend, lanced