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carl. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
carl, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
carl in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
carl you have here. The definition of the word
carl will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
carl, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English carl, from Old English carl, a borrowing from Old Norse karl (“man, husband”), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz. Doublet of churl.
Pronunciation
Noun
carl (plural carls)
- A rude, rustic man; a churl.
- Synonyms: hick, hob; see also Thesaurus:country bumpkin
1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!:In Lent noblemen and carls alike had got into the traces and pulled the carts of stone themselves.
- (Scotland, obsolete) A stingy person; a niggard.
- Synonyms: skinflint, tightwad; see also Thesaurus:miser
Etymology 2
Uncertain.
Alternative forms
Verb
carl (third-person singular simple present carls, present participle carling, simple past and past participle carled)
- (obsolete, intransitive) To snarl; to talk grumpily or gruffly.
- , New York 2001, p.210:
- full of ache, sorrow, and grief, children again, dizzards, they carle many times as they sit, and talk to themselves, they are angry, waspish, displeased with everything
See also
Anagrams
Old English
Etymology
From Old Norse karl (Danish karl (“man”), Swedish karl (“man”)), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz (“man, male”). Cognate with Old High German karl, karal and related to Old English ċeorl.
Pronunciation
Noun
carl m
- a freeman, a man of middle rank or social class (in Norse and Anglo-Saxon society)
- (by extension) a man
- (by extension, in compounds) a male
- carlcatt ― he-cat, a male cat
- carlfugol ― a male bird, cock