carl English · revision 6558

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1300|origins=gem-pro *karlaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɑɹl̩/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English carl, [[bor|non|karl|t=man, male; freeman]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from [[gem-pro|*karlaz]], cognate with [[goh|karl|t=man, husband]] and [[nl|kerel|alt=karel|t=fellow]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) The same Germanic source gave Old English [[m|ang|ceorl]] (see [[churl]]), the name Carl and, through Latin and French, [[Charles]].^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bondman or villein, and a man of low birth or rude manners: before 1300 in the OED;^(OED 1989) about 1300 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) NODE and SOED trace it to late Old English, in the compound -carl.^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A man of the common people, a countryman, is from 1375;^(OED 1989) Chaucer's Miller is ''a stout carl''.^(Etymonline) One who is churlish or mean with money is from 1542.^(OED 1989) In Scots it came to mean simply a fellow, a man, often a strong one,^(Hoad 1986)^(OED 1989) and as a modifier, male, as in ''carl cat'' (about 1605).^(OED 1989) The word is now archaic, kept mainly in Scots and northern dialect.^(SOED 2002)^(Collins 2023)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – a bondman; a churl.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1375 – a countryman.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1542 – a miser.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1605 – male, as carl cat.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(archaic)'' A man of low birth; a [[peasant]] or [[churl]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Scots)'' A fellow, especially a strong or rough one.^(Hoad 1986)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[carlish]]

+ * [[carlishness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[housecarl]]

+ * [[churl]]

+ * [[Charles]]

+ * [[carline]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Yorkshire and Durham dialect a different carl meant to parch peas,^(Wright 1898) and SOED takes it as a back-formation from [[carling]].^(Wright 1898)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}