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. See churl
   archaic.
   another word for churl

Other Words From

• carlish adjective
• carlish·ness 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

Carl, who is 28 and has cerebral palsy, struggled through the sweltering nights, worrying Hollins that the 100-degree heat index would trigger one of his seizures.

From ProPublica

Steve talks to Carl about his new book, Drug Use for Grown-Ups, and Carl tells Steve why decriminalizing drugs is as American as apple pie.

From Freakonomics

“He loved eating out and traveling, always surrounded by his close friends Craig, Mike, Ed, Carl, Greg, Chas, and Harry,” said Morehouse.

From Washington Blade

“It’s a promote-Carl organization,” observed one political operative who used to work closely with DeMaio.

From Voice of San Diego

It’s Carl who comes back from college in Minnesota and a real estate career in Toronto with a plan to save Os’s economy.

From Washington Post

Carl Sandler, who founded Mister in 2012, previously founded Daddyhunt.com and worked at Gay.com.

From The Daily Beast

In the next election, MassEquality took Vinnie out, replacing him with a young gay man, Carl Sciortino.

From The Daily Beast

Cuomo ran for governor in 2002, but pulled out before he was to be soundly defeated in the Democratic primary by Carl McCall.

From The Daily Beast

But poor Carl is still trudging along as if his assault never happened.

From The Daily Beast

The only difference was the writing staff was Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, and Carl Reiner, and they started writing on Monday.

From The Daily Beast

They had not met since the battle of Wilson Creek, when Carl went back with a broken arm.

From Project Gutenberg

In the privacy of Lawrence's room, Carl told his story—a story that Lawrence listened to breathless attention.

From Project Gutenberg

There was another silence, during which Carl became absorbed in a book and Louise gave her attention to Helen's dolls.

From Project Gutenberg

"Miss Zélie herself sets more store by Carl than any of the rest," said Mandy, coming to the door.

From Project Gutenberg

Carl suddenly demanded, as they marched up the newly reddened walk.

From Project Gutenberg