From a school janitor to a prisoner serving a specific role. A Story About a kalefaktor in Polish language

Abstract

Kalefaktor (also in the forms kalifaktor, kalafaktor), and in dialects, additionally kalfaktor and kelfaktór in the Polish language – historical and contemporary, general and dialectal – is limited-used word, and therefore little known. It has been documented since the late 16th century. Originally, according to the Medieval Latin etymon calefactor, the term was used to refer to a school janitor whose main duty was to stoke the furnace. In the first half of the 20th century, the term was adopted into prison slang to refer to a prisoner who maintained order and distributed meals. 20th-century studies of Polish dialects document it in three additional meanings – besides the prison – related one: ‘corporal’s assistant in the military’ (Opole); ‘a person who helps out at the inn’ (Słupsk County) and ‘a man who acts as a matchmaker; a matchmaker’ (Oleśnica County). It is surprising that, despite changing realities, this word has remained in use to this day.