caul·dron also cal·dron (kôl'drən) n. 1. A large vessel, such as a kettle or vat, used for boiling.
2. A state or situation of great distress or unrest felt to resemble a boiling kettle or vat: a cauldron of conflicting corporate politics.
[Middle English, alteration of cauderon, from Norman French, diminutive of caudiere, cooking pot, from Late Latin caldāria, from feminine of Latin caldārius, suitable for warming, from calidus, warm; see kelə-1 in Indo-European roots.]