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• carl
  carl

  noun
• Carl
  Carl

  noun

  a male given name, form of Charles.

carl

¹ American  

[kahrl] / kɑrl /

Or carle

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.

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Carl ² American  

[kahrl] / kɑrl /

noun

1. a male given name, form of Charles.

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carl British  

/ kɑːl /

noun

1. archaic another word for churl

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Other Word Forms

• carlish
  adjective
• carlishness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of carl

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

Example Sentences

Then cam in the carl cat, Wi’ a fiddle on his back.

From Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age by Bullen, A. H. (Arthur Henry)

"He is a strange carl," said Stauf, as he sat up on a tall bench, like an office stool; "but I wish from my soul it was over!"

From Arthur O'Leary His Wanderings And Ponderings In Many Lands by Lever, Charles James

Thou art too sage a carl, Henner, not to make something better than a penitent.

From The Childhood of King Erik Menved An Historical Romance by Ingemann, Bernhard Severin

Aye, child, and more's the pity: he is the ablest carl I have known; but Denmark has given birth to him to her own ruin.

From The Childhood of King Erik Menved An Historical Romance by Ingemann, Bernhard Severin

"Saw you the drost?" asked a soldier: "such a carl!"

From The Childhood of King Erik Menved An Historical Romance by Ingemann, Bernhard Severin