▪ I. carol, n.
(ˈkærəl)
Forms: 4–6 karol(e, karolle, carole, 4–7 caroll(e, 4–9 carrol(l, 5 (careld), caroul, 5–6 caral(le, carowl, 6 carralle, caril, caryl, carrell, karrel, 7 karil, (carrold), 4– carol.
[a. OF. carole, also kar-, char-, quar-, quer-, kerole, -olle, in all the senses in which it occurs in Eng. (exc. 3); still in French dialects. (Marne carole dance, fête, joy; Swiss Rom. coraula, coraulo, round dance, dance-song, coraul ball, round dance (Godef.), Pr. and It. carola; Old Pr. also corola. The ulterior etymology of OF. carole and its accompanying vb. caroler, is uncertain; nor is it clear whether the vb. or the n. takes priority etymologically. There are many indications that the first syllable had originally co- (see Diez, 1878, p. 539, and cf. the Swiss and Breton forms); hence Romanic etymologists generally agree with Diez, in seeking the etymology in the Gr.-L. chorus, and its derivatives chorēa, choraules, etc.: cf. esp. ‘corolar vel coreiar, coreas ducere’ quoted by Diez from Faidit Gram. Prov., of 13th c. Wackernagel would take the vb. (coraulare ‘conculcare’ to tread, dance, Ugutio) as a derivative of the n. coraula, choraula, choraules, the fluteplayer who accompanied the chorus dance, and the n. as a derivative of the vb. Another conjecture, assuming ‘ring’ to be the original sense of the n., has proposed as its source L. corolla ‘little crown, coronet, garland’. In any case, a Celtic origin is out of the question: Welsh carol (Christmas) carol, and vb. caroli to sing carols, are from English (Rhŷs), and Breton koroll dance, korolli to dance, koroller dancer, are from French. The arrangement of the senses here followed is tentative.]
I. A ring-dance, and derived senses.
† 1. A ring-dance with accompaniment of song; ? a ring of men or women holding hands and moving round in dancing step. arch.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 7601 O þair karol suilk was þe sang. c 1300 K. Alis. 1845 Faire is carole of maide gent, Bothe in halle and eke in tent. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3460 Wymmen..þat borwe cloþes yn carol to go. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 1722 Miri time it is in may..Damisels carols ledeth. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 123 He saw a mayden..daunsynge in a carrole among oþer maydouns. 1394 Gower Conf. III. 365 With harpe and lute and with citole, The love daunce and the carole..A softe pas they daunce and trede. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1022 And daunceden with a caralle þe chirche abouȝt. 1483 Cath. Angl. 54 A Caralle, corea, chorus, pecten. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. xi, In carrolds as they course. 1616 Bullokar, Carol, a song, sometimes a dance. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. vi. 115 The circles of upright stones..have suggested the idea of a ring-dance, and the story has shaped itself..that such a ring was a party of girls who were turned into stone for dancing carols on a Sunday. 1866 Engel Nat. Mus. viii. 273 We learn that the term Carole was applied by the Trouvères to a dance in which the performers moved slowly round in a circle, singing at the time. 1867 Longfellow Dante's Parad. xxiv. 16 Those carols dancing in different measure. |
† b. Diversion or merry-making of which such dances formed a leading feature. Obs. [So in mod.F. dial. = ‘fête, joie’.]
| a 1300 Cursor M. 28146 Caroles, iolites, and plaies, ic haue be-haldyn and ledde in ways. 1340 Ayenb. 71 Oure blisse is ywent in-to wop, oure karoles into zorȝe. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 43 Iusted ful Iolile þise gentyle kniȝtes, Syþen kayred to þe court, caroles to make. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour C ij, To be att feestes, Joustes, and carolles. |
† c. A company or band of singers, a choir. (? Or simply ‘assembly, company’ as in Godefroy ‘assemblée, cercle, réunion’.) Obs.
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 253/1 Thassembles of martirs, the Couentes of Confessours, the Carolles of Virgyns. |
2. A song; originally, that to which they danced. Now usually, a song of a joyous strain; often transf. to the joyous warbling of birds.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 9043 Þys ys þe karolle þat þey sunge. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 133 And eke he can carolles make, Roundel, balade and virelay. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 92 Caral, songe [P. caroll], palinodium [K. Psalmodium]...Caroolyn, or synge carowlys. 1595 Spenser Epithal. 259 The whiles the maydens doe theyr carroll sing. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. v. iii. 27 This Carroll they began that houre, With a hey and a ho, & a hey nonino. c 1750 Shenstone Elegy ix, To sing soft carrols to your lovely dames. 1800 Wordsw. Hart-leap Well ii. xv, He heard the birds their morning carols sing. a 1824 Campbell Dead Eagle 99 The fife-like carol of the lark. |
3. a. A song or hymn of religious joy.
| a 1547 Surrey æneid ii. 300 Children, and maides, that holly carolles sang. 1625 Bacon Ess., Adversity (Arb.) 505 Yet, euen in the old Testament, if you Listen to Dauids Harpe, you shall heare as many Herselike Ayres, as Carols. 1830 Tennyson Dream Fair Women 245 ‘Glory to God’ she sang, and past afar..Losing her carol I stood pensively. |
b. esp. A song or hymn of joy sung at Christmas in celebration of the Nativity. Rarely applied to hymns on certain other festal occasions.
| 1502 Priv. Purse Exp. Eliz. York (1830) 83 Item to Cornishe for setting of a carralle upon Cristmas day. 1521 W. de Worde (title), Christmasse Carolles. 1530 Palsgr. 203/1 Carole a song, chancon de noel. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 70 A Christmas Caroll of the birth of Christ vpon the tune of King Salamon. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 102 No night is now with hymne or caroll blest. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 175 The Dity of that hymne, or Caroll, [was] Peace on earth. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 367. 1774 T. Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry xxviii. (1840) II. 397 These coronation carols were customary. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) ii. 29 Screaming and bellowing Christmas carols under your window. 1845 S. Austin tr. Ranke's Hist. Ref. I. 371 Singing hymns before the doors of houses, and new year's carols in the villages. |
II. A ring, and related senses. (perh. ought to be I.)
† 4. A ring or circle, e.g. of standing stones.
[All these instances refer to Stonehenge, also called the Giants' Dance; cf. quot. 1865 in sense 1; but Du Cange has instances of a very different kind, e.g. ‘Unum annulum cum saphyro magno, et karola in circuitu 7 lapidum et 8 perlarum’.]
| 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace in Hearne Pref. R.B. 194 Þis Bretons renged about þe feld, Þe karole of the stones be⁓held, Many tyme ȝede þam about. Ibid. 195 Whan he had gon alle aboute Within þe karole & withoute. c 1470 Harding Chron. lxx. x, Within [the] Giauntes Carole, that so ther hight, The [Stone hengles] that nowe so named been. |
¶ A precinct, a space enclosed by rails, etc. See Du Cange.
† 5. A small enclosure or ‘study’ in a cloister.
[See numerous OF. examples in Godefroy, and quot. from Premonstrat. Statutes in Du Cange ‘in claustro carolæ vel hujusmodi scriptoria’.]
| 1593 Descr. Monuments, &c. Ch. Durham §41 (1842) 70 In every wyndowe three Pewes or Carrells, where every one of the old monks had his carrell, severall by himselfe, that when they had dyned they dyd resorte to that place of Cloister, and there studyed upon there books, every one in his carrell all the after nonne. 1721 Bailey, Carrel, a Closet or Pen in a Monastery. 1810 Acc. Gloucester Cath., The ten divisions for the windows in the south cloister are divided into twenty carrols; two carrols in each window;—their width four feet. |
b. carol-window: ? a bay-window.
| c 1600 Jupp Acc. Comp. Carpenters 223 In 1572 the Carpenters Company of the City of London ordered a caroll-window to be made in the place wher the window now standethe in the gallerie. |
† 6. A chain. [So F. quarole, two examples in Godef.: see also Du Cange.]
| c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 2885 Scho putte ilke resche in other, And made a karole in a stounde, The ton hende touched to grounde, And the othir scho helde on heygh. |
7. Comb. and attrib., as carol service, carol singer, carol singing (also as pres. pple.); carol-song, carol-wise; carol-chanting ppl. adj.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 201 (Camb. MS.) And songyn as it were in carolewyse. 1583 T. Watson Poems (Arb.) 137 Let those lament who lust, Ile sing a carroll song for obsequy. 1601 Chester Love's Mart. (1878) 5 And carroll-chanting birds are sudden mute. 1876 Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms 77/2 Carol singing is of great antiquity among Christian communities. 1911 E. Duncan Story of Carol xiv. 180 On Christmas Eve country carol-singers spent half the night tramping the ice-bound ways. Ibid. 191 An amusing story, connected with carol-singing, is related in Pasquil's Jests. 1928 P. Dearmer et al. Oxford Bk. Carols p. xvi, William Hone..anticipated that carol-singing would entirely disappear in a few years. Ibid. p. xxii, ‘Carol services’ are indeed not infrequently held even to-day at which not a single genuine carol is sung. 1954 T. S. Eliot Confidential Clerk i. 17 I've always sung in our voluntary choir And at the carol service. 1954 Radio Call (Austral.) 22 Dec. 10 As on previous Christmas eves, they'll be carol singing for appreciative audiences. 1978 Washington Post 19 Nov. f2/2 Its four holiday stamps..showing carol singers through the ages will go on sale Wednesday. |
▪ II. carol, v.
(ˈkærəl, -ɒl)
For forms see prec.
[a. OF. caroler, f. carole; see prec. The derivative forms in -ed, -ing, -er, are now most commonly spelt (in England) with ll (carolled, etc.) though for no good reason: cf. F. caroler, carolant, caroleur.]
† 1. intr. To dance in a ring to the accompaniment of song; to dance and sing, make merry. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 7600 [Þar] karold [Gött. dauncid] wimmen be þe wai. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 9041 Þese wommen ȝede and tollede here oute Wyþ hem to karolle þe cherche aboute. Ibid. 9138 Þese men þat ȝede so karol⁓lande Alle þat ȝere hande yn hande. c 1400 Rom. Rose 810, I wolde have karoled right fayn, As man that was to daunce right blithe. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 327 Ladyes and damoyselles did carowle and sing. |
2. To sing, orig. in accompaniment to a dance. Now usually: To sing a lively or joyous strain. (Chiefly poet.)
| c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 848, I sawe her daunce so comely, Carol and sing so swetely 1393 Gower Conf. III. 30 If she carole upon a songe, Whan I it here, I am so fed. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 62 Caroolyn, or synge carowlys [P. carallyn], psalmodio. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Feb., Tho wouldest thou learne to caroll of love. 1633 P. Fletcher Pisc. Ecl. xi. i, And carol lowd of love, and loves delight. 1791 Cowper Iliad xviii. 712 Carolling to it with a slender voice. 1853 De Quincey Sp. Mil. Nun viii. 17 Juvenal's qualification for carolling gaily through a forest full of robbers. |
b. ironically.
| 1440 J. Shirley Dethe K. James (1818) 18 Sirs the spows is foundon, wherfore we bene cumne, and all this nyght haf carold here. |
c. transf. of the warbling of birds, etc.
| 1595 Spenser Epithal. 79 Hark, how the cheerfull birds do chaunt..And carroll of Loves praise. 1768 Beattie Minstr. i. v, Where the grey linnets carol from the hill. 1830 Tennyson Sea-Fairies, Merrily merrily carol the gales. |
3. trans. a. with cognate object.
| 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 60 Then carroll I vp a song withall. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 37 To carroll out this roundelay. 1718 Prior 2nd Hymn Callimachus (R.) Hovering swans..carol sounds harmonious. 1797 Philanthrope No. 25 Many a feather'd warbler..Carrol'd the melodious lay. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 700 Carolling as he went A true-love ballad. |
b. To sing of, celebrate in song.
| 1634 Milton Comus 849 The shepherds..Carol her goodness loud in rustic lays. 1683 Chalkhill Thealma & Cl. 40 Shepherds Swains still Carol out her Fame. 1774 Westm. Mag. II. 374 The Muse That carrol'd Sir John Hill! |