carl
or carle
[kahrl]
- Scot.
- a strong, robust fellow, especially a strong manual laborer.
- a miser; an extremely thrifty person.
- Archaic. a churl.
- Obsolete. a bondman.
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Origin of carl
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for carle
Contemporary Examples
“The whole ticking-time-bomb thesis is … so cockamamie,” said Carle.
“Prosecutions will divide us and not make these excesses less likely,” said Carle.
These claims are absolutely false, according to former interrogators such as Carle and Kleinman.
Historical Examples
I'll never have the man who's wanting the strick of carle hemp in the making of him!'
Two Penniless PrincessesCharlotte M. Yonge
“That will be our supper to-night,” observed the carle, as he disengaged the spear.
Erling the BoldR.M. Ballantyne
Then the carle said, “Another cup for the longer after youth!”
The Story of the Glittering PlainWilliam Morris
Said the carle: "We have come the shortest way this bitter morning; that is all."
The Sundering FloodWilliam Morris
Quoth the carle: "It is down in this ghyll that my master promised to abide me."
The Sundering FloodWilliam Morris
carl
carle
- archaic another word for churl
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Word Origin
Old English, from Old Norse karl
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for carle
carl
n.
c.1300, "bondsman; common man, man of low birth," from Old Norse karl "man, male, freeman," from Proto-Germanic *karlon-, the same root that produced Old English ceorl "man of low degree" (see churl).
The Mellere was a stout carle for the nones [Chaucer]
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Carl
masc. proper name, from Middle High German Karl "man, husband" (see carl).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper