carl

¹

Or carle

[kahrl]

noun

1. Scot.

   1. a strong, robust fellow, especially a strong manual laborer.

   2. a miser; an extremely thrifty person.

2. Archaic.,  a churl.

3. Obsolete.,  a bondman.

Carl

²

[kahrl]

noun

1. a male given name, form of Charles.

carl

/ kɑːl /

noun

1. archaic,  another word for churl

Other Word Forms

• carlish adjective
• carlishness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of carl¹

before 1000 (in compounds; housecarl ); Middle English; Old English -carl < Old Norse karl man; cognate with Old High German karl; akin to churl

Word History and Origins

Origin of carl¹

Old English, from Old Norse karl

Example Sentences

Studying nearly 1,000 moai statues, Binghamton University Professor of Anthropology Carl Lipo and the University of Arizona's Terry Hunt found that the people of Rapa Nui likely used rope and "walked" the giant statues in a zig-zag motion along carefully designed roads.

From Science Daily

Earlier this year, she lost her beloved husband Carl Dean after nearly 60 years of marriage.

From BBC

Carl Dean, who was married to the “I Will Always Love You” hitmaker for almost 60 years, died at age 82.

From Los Angeles Times

Dolly Parton made rare comments about her almost-60-year marriage to Carl Dean on Khloé Kardashian’s podcast, ‘Khloé in Wonder Land.’

From Los Angeles Times

While Felt never got the top job, he is now remembered as the prized anonymous source “Deep Throat,” who helped Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in their Pulitzer Prize-winning Watergate investigation.

From Salon