1. A very large pot that is used for boiling or cooking food over a fire.
2. A condition or situation of great distress or unrest which is felt to be like a boiling kettle or vat: The university was a cauldron of conflicting racial protests that students were presenting and which resulted in the resignation of the president.
3. Etymology: from Late Latin caldaria, from feminine of Latin caldarius, "suitable for warming"; from calidarium, "hot bath"; from calidus, "warm".