> "Calibration apparatus"

I believe it's kali from German Kaliumhydroxid[0] (KOH, what it uses to dissolve CO2), from the same "potassium" root as al-kali in English, from medieval Arabic[1]. (And also metonymically a name for the coastal salt-marsh plant[2] from which medieval workers sourced potash/potassium[3]. I actually submitted that plant to HN [4] a few days ago, but no one was excited about it. They were once an essential ingredient in glassmaking, hence their other name, "glasswort").

[0] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliumhydroxid

[1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kali#English

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsola_kali

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potash#History

[4] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44128748

No, it's from al kali ne.