ceorl

American  

[chey-awrl] / ˈtʃeɪ ɔrl /

noun

Obsolete.

1. churl.

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ceorl British  

/ tʃɛəl /

noun

1. a freeman of the lowest class in Anglo-Saxon England

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Other Word Forms

• ceorlish adjective

Etymology

Origin of ceorl

before 1000; this form borrowed (17th century) < Old English

Example Sentences

But these services and the time of rendering them were strictly limited by custom, not only in the case of the ceorl or villein but in that of the originally meaner "landless man."

From History of the English People, Volume I Early England, 449-1071; Foreign Kings, 1071-1204; The Charter, 1204-1216 by Green, John Richard

For the ceorl, who could not quit the land on which he was born, or free himself from slavery, life was particularly hard.

From Legal Lore Curiosities of Law and Lawyers by Various

And if a ceorl throve, so that had fully five hides of his own land, church and kitchen, bell-house and burh-gate-seat, and special duty in the king's hall, then was he thenceforth of thegn-right worthy.

From Popular Law-making by Stimson, Frederic Jesup

But, from an early date, the English themselves were fond of verbal jingles, such as "Scot and lot," "sac and soc," "frith and grith," "eorl and ceorl," or "might and right."

From Early Britain Anglo-Saxon Britain by Allen, Grant

Scip, ship; cild, child; ceorl, churl; cynn, kin; ceald, cold.

From Early Britain Anglo-Saxon Britain by Allen, Grant