yell English · revision 15515

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1000|origins=ine-pro *gʰel-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /jɛl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|yellen]], [[inh|ang|ġiellan]] (West Saxon, Mercian [[m|ang|ġellan]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*gellaną]], cognate with [[nl|gillen]], [[goh|gellan]] (modern [[m|de|gellen]]) and [[non|gjalla|t=to resound]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and more distantly with [[ang|galan|t=to sing]], seen in [[nightingale]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*gʰel-|t=to call]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English, before 1000, used of certain birds and beasts in the OED;^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) of a person, to cry out loud, before 1225.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The transitive sense, to utter with a yell, was in Old English.^(Etymonline) Of loud singing or chanting it is from 1387.^(OED 1989) The noun, a sharp loud outcry, is from about 1375, at first in Scots.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A cheer chanted in unison, as at American colleges, is from the 19th century,^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023) and in slang a yell is something very funny, a scream, from 1926.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1000 – ġiellan.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1375 – a yell (noun, Scots).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1387 – loud singing.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1926 – a scream, a joke (slang).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To shout loudly, as in pain, anger, fear or excitement.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A loud, sharp cry or shout.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(US)'' A rhythmic cheer chanted by a group.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[yeller]]

+ * [[outyell]]

+ * [[rebel yell]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gale]]

+ * [[yelp]]

+ * [[nightingale]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Lancashire dialect yell was a form of [[awl]],^(Wright 1898) and in Lothian Scots it meant an echo.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}