A theoretical or hypothetical substance once proposed to be the carrier or essence of heat in bodies.
From Latin 'calor' (heat) + '-ite' suffix (stone/substance). A term from early heat theories in 17th-18th century physics, now obsolete.
Scientists once believed 'calorite' was an invisible fluid called 'caloric' that flowed between objects—like a ghost in the machine—until they realized heat was actually molecular motion!
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