Meaning

noun a mild viral infection involving the nose and respiratory passages (but not the lungs)

noun the absence of heat

noun the sensation produced by low temperatures

originInherited from Middle English cold, from Anglian Old English cald. The West Saxon form, ċeald (“cold”), survived as early Middle English cheald, cheld, or chald. Both descended from Proto-West Germanic *kald, from Proto-Germanic *kaldaz, a participle form of *kalaną (“to be cold”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”). Cognates Cognate with Scots cald, cauld (“cold”), Saterland Frisian koold…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0