ceorl
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ceorl
before 1000; this form borrowed (17th century) < Old English
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Stopping at the houses of ceorl and thegn alike for shelter and refreshment, she gave her merriest smile and sang her gayest songs.
From A Maid at King Alfred?s Court by Lucy Foster Madison
At all events, while the ceorl tasted all the bitterness of his serfdom, the adjudged felon in other stations was able to obtain much leniency.
From Legal Lore Curiosities of Law and Lawyers by Various
Her eyes would call him—without malice or intention, no doubt, but your early Briton ceorl or earl would be as well understood by her.
From The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Taking a less technical sense than the ceorl of Anglo-Saxon law, churl, or cherl was used in general to mean a “man,” and more particularly a “husband.”
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 "Chitral" to "Cincinnati" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
