call

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɔːl/, US also /kɑːl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English callen, probably borrowed from Old Norse kalla (“to cry loudly, summon; to name”),^[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *kallōjanan,^[6][7] from Proto-Indo-European *gal- (“to call, shout”).^[2][6] Old English had a rare native ceallian (“to shout”), and -calla in hildecalla (“war herald”), which may have contributed to the Middle English verb;^[2][6][8] the usual Old English word for calling was clipian, the source of clepe and yclept.^[2] Related words are Middle Low German kallen, Dutch kallen (“to talk”), Old High German kallōn (“to talk loudly, chatter”), Welsh galw (“to call”) and Old Church Slavonic гласъ (glasŭ, “voice”).^[6][7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To cry out, and to summon, ask for or give a name to (mid-13th century).^[2] Barnhart dates the Middle English verb probably about 1200.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Making a short visit was originally “to stand at the door and call”.^[2] The sense “to summon to a way of life” is probably before 1250, and it gave calling “occupation” (1551).^[6] Call up “to summon” is mid-15th century, call for “to demand, require” 1530s, call back “to revoke” 1550s and call names 1590s.^[2] Card players called for the hands to be shown from the 1670s, and in poker call “to match a bet” is by 1889,^[2] while calling heads or tails is from 1801.^[2] The telephone sense of the verb dates from 1882 and of the noun from 1878.^[2] Call off “to cancel” is by 1888, earlier “to summon away” (1630s).^[2] The noun meant a loud cry and a summons in the early 14th century,^[2] a military summons by bugle or drum from the 1580s, a bird's cry from the 1680s and a short formal visit from 1862,^[2] and “duty, occasion” (no call for that) from the 1670s.^[2] Call the tune is dated from the late 17th century, though the full proverb he who pays the piper calls the tune is recorded only from the late 19th,^[9] and call the shots (1920s) comes from games such as pool, where a player names a shot in advance.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English -calla, in hildecalla, war herald.^[6]
• c. 1200 – Middle English callen.^[6]
• mid-13th century – to cry out, summon, name.^[2]
• before 1250 – calling, a summons to a way of life.^[6]
• early 14th century – noun, a loud cry or a summons.^[2]
• 1435 – caller.^[6]
• mid-15th century – call up.^[2]
• 1530s – call for, to demand.^[2]
• 1551 – calling, occupation.^[6]
• 1580s – noun, a military summons by bugle or drum.^[2]
• 1590s – call names.^[2]
• 1670s – in cards, to demand that the hands be shown.^[2]
• 1680s – noun, a bird's cry.^[2]
• 1801 – calling heads or tails.^[2]
• 1862 – noun, a short formal visit.^[2]
• 1878 – noun, a telephone call.^[2]
• 1882 – verb, to telephone.^[2]
• 1888 – call off, to cancel.^[2]
• 1889 – in poker, to match a bet.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To say loudly or shout, especially to attract attention.
2. To ask or order to come; summon: call a doctor.
3. To arrange or announce (a meeting or strike).
4. To telephone.
5. To pay a short visit: she called on him.
6. To give a name to; describe as: they called him Tom.
7. Of an animal or bird, to make its typical cry.
8. To summon to an office or vocation: called to the ministry.
9. (poker) To match a bet.

Noun

1. A loud cry; a shout.
2. The cry of an animal, or a device imitating it.
3. A telephone conversation or connection.
4. A short visit.
5. Need or reason: no call for rudeness.
6. Demand: little call for it.
7. A summons or invitation; a vocation.

Word family

• birdcall
• callboard
• catcall
• overcall
• call-out
• call-up
• callboy
• altar call

Related words

• recall
• clepe
• yclept
• calling
• caller

Usage notes

Call is the general word for asking someone to come;^[8] invite asks courteously, leaving the person free to refuse, and summon uses authority or formality.^[8] Other near-synonyms are convene, convoke and muster.^[10]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
9. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin