Etymologically
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carl

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɑɹl̩/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English carl, borrowed from Old Norse karl (“man, male; freeman”),[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *karlaz, cognate with Old High German karl (“man, husband”) and Dutch karel (“fellow”).[3][2][6] The same Germanic source gave Old English ceorl (see churl), the name Carl and, through Latin and French, Charles.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A bondman or villein, and a man of low birth or rude manners: before 1300 in the OED;[7] about 1300 in Etymonline.[2] NODE and SOED trace it to late Old English, in the compound -carl.[5][6][4]

Semantic evolution

A man of the common people, a countryman, is from 1375;[7] Chaucer's Miller is a stout carl.[2] One who is churlish or mean with money is from 1542.[7] In Scots it came to mean simply a fellow, a man, often a strong one,[3][7] and as a modifier, male, as in carl cat (about 1605).[7] The word is now archaic, kept mainly in Scots and northern dialect.[6][8][9]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – a bondman; a churl.[7]
  • 1375 – a countryman.[7]
  • 1542 – a miser.[7]
  • c. 1605 – male, as carl cat.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (archaic) A man of low birth; a peasant or churl.
  2. (Scots) A fellow, especially a strong or rough one.

Word family

  • carlish
  • carlishness
  • housecarl
  • churl
  • Charles
  • carline

Usage notes

In Yorkshire and Durham dialect a different carl meant to parch peas,[9] and SOED takes it as a back-formation from carling.[9][6]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b c Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)