▪ I. carl, carle, n.1
(kɑːl)
Also 4–7 karl(e, 5 karll, 6 carril, cairle, carll.
[a. ON. karl (Sw. Da. karl) man, male, freeman, man of the people; found in OE., from the time of the Danish kings, in h{uacu}s-carl, later also in butse-carl, and carlman, but not as a separate word. ON. karl = OHG. charal, karl, MHG. karl:—OTeut. type *karlo-z. OHG. had also charlo, MHG. charle, karle:—OTeut. type *karlon-. Besides these the LG. dialects have an ablaut form repr. an OTeut. type *kerlo-z, viz. OE. ceorl (from cerl), MDu. kērel, kerle, Du. kerel, MLG. kerle (whence mod.G. kerl), Fris. tzerl: see churl. The form karl appears as the proper name Karl, OE. Carl, L. Carolus, Fr. and Eng. Charles: cf. Charles's Wain.]
1. A man of the common people; more particularly a countryman, a husbandman. arch.
[1000 See house-carl, bus-carl, carman2].
| 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 226 Stalwart karlis..and wycht. Ibid. x. 158 He wes a stout carle and a sture. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 545 The Mellere was a stout carl for the nones. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xi. 90 Thai sparyt nowther carl na page. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 62 Carle or chorle, rusticus. c 1450 Merlin xi. 167 They saugh come a grete karl thourgh the medowes. 1509 Barclay Ship of Fooles (1570) 159 Fye rurall carles, awake I say and rise. c 1550 Sir J. Balfour Practicks 510 (Jam.) Cairles, and men of mean conditioun. 1552 Huloet, Churle or carle of the countrey, rusticus. 1757 Dyer Fleece ii. 435 They clothe the mountain carl or mariner. 1820 Scott Monast. xvii, It seems as if you had fallen asleep a carle, and awakened a gentleman. 1821 J. Baillie Malcom's Heir xii. 2 By lord and by carle forgot. 1876 Morris Sigurd ii. 87 And kings of the carles are these. |
† b. esp. A bondman, a villain; cf. churl. Obs. (after 1500 blending with prec.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 29444 Þe toþer..es woman, carl o feild, and child þat es wit-in eild. c 1400 Cato's Morals 313 in Cursor M. p. 1673 If þou haue carlis boȝt to serue þe in þi þoȝt. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 62 Carle or chorle, bondeman or woman, servus nativus, serva nativa. c 1440 York Myst. xi. 191 We are harde halden here als carls vndir þe kyng. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 148/2 He tormented a uylayn or a carle for the couetyse of hys good. 1530 Palsgr. 203/1 Carle, chorle, uilain. 1549 Compl. Scot. xvii. 144 The discriptione of ane vilaine (quhilk ve cal ane carl in our scottis langage). [1844 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. x. (1862) 140 The oath of a..king's thane, being of equal avail with that of six carles or peasants.] |
2. Hence, A fellow of low birth or rude manners; a base fellow; a churl. In later times, passing into a vague term of disparagement or contempt, and chiefly with appropriate epithets. Sc. (kerl) or arch.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 13808 ‘Þou carl, qui brekes þou vr lau.’ c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 876 An out-comlyng, a carle, we kytte of þyn heued. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 559 The karl of Kaymes kyn. 1476 Sir J. Paston Lett. 776 III. 163 They weer ffrowarde karlys. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1844 A knave and a carl, and all of one kynd. 1549 Compl. Scotl. xvii. 146 Thai that var vicius & couuardis, var reput for vilainis ande carlis. 1597 1st Pt. Return fr. Parnass. v. i. 1479 Farewell, base carle clothed in a sattin sute. 1728 Thomson Hymn to May (R.), I deem that carl, by beauty's pow'r unmov'd Hated of heav'n. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xvii, ‘Ye donnard carle’. 1829 ― Demonol. iv. 123 Wrinkled carles and odious hags. 1882 J. Fothergill Kith & K. xiii, A rough-hewn, cross-grained carle like him. |
b. spec. One who is churlish or mean in money matters; a grabber; a niggard. Now only Sc.
| 1542 Brinklow Compl. ii. (1874) 9 Another rich covetos carl. 1564 Becon Jewell of Joye Wks. ii. 15 Those riche carles and couetouse churles. 1593 T. Nashe Christ's T. 53 None is so much the thieues mark as the myser and the Carle. 1597–8 Bp. Hall Sat. ii. iv. 34 The liberal man should liue, and carle should die. 1642 Rogers Naaman 354, I will not say, as a Carle lately did, of great wealth, I shall dye a beggar. 1730–6 Bailey s.v., An old Carle, an old doting, covetous hunks, a surly niggard. 1753 Richardson Grandison (1781) II. xxxvi. 341 Mercantile carle. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 90 He was a carle in his day, And siccar bargains he could mak. |
3. Without any specific reference to rank or manners, but usually including the notion of sturdiness or strength, and sometimes of roughness; = Fellow. Sc.
[Cf. 1375–86 in 1.]
| a 1550 Christis Kirke Gr. xxi, The carlis with clubbis coud udir quell. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xxxi. 74 If he be a lusty Carle. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 84 The night was cauld, the carle was wat. 1794 Burns The Carles of Dysart, Up wi' the carles o' Dysart, And the lads o' Buckhaven. 1798 Wordsw. P. Bell i. xvii, He was a carl as wild and rude As ever hue-and-cry pursued. 1828 Scott F. M. Perth vii, The town hold me a hot-headed carle. 1857 J. Wilson Chr. North I. 156 A rosy-cheeked carle, upwards of six feet high. 1858 M. Porteous Souter Johnny 7 A blither cantier carl. |
b. Sc. to play carl again: ‘to return a stroke, to give as much as one receives’ (Jamieson).
| 1862 in Hislop Prov. Scotl. 161 Play carle wi' me again. |
4. = carl hemp, q.v.
5. attrib. and Comb.: a. simple attrib. or in apposition: That is or acts as a carl; knavish.
| c 1450 Erle of Tolous 1081 Thou carle monke, wyth all thy gynne..Hur sorowe schalt thou not cees. 1593 Peele Order Garter Wks. 1829 II. 238 The carl Oblivion stol'n from Lethes lake. |
b. In sense of ‘male’, as carl cat, carl crab; carl doddie, a flowering stalk of ribgrass, scabious, etc. (cf. curl doddy); also carl hemp, carman2.
(The asserted occurrence of carl-catt, carl-fuᵹol, etc. in OE. appears to be an error: they have not been found by us even in ME.)
| c 1605 Montgomerie Flyting 670 Carle cats weepe vinegar with their eine. 1691 Ray N. C. Wds. (E.D.S.) Carl-cat, a boar or he-cat. 1803 Sir R. Sibbald Fife 132 (Jam.) The common sea-crab..the male they call the Carle crab. 1868 G. Macdonald R. Falconer I. 65 ‘He kneipit their heids thegither, as gin they hed been twa carldoddies’. |
▪ II. carl, n.2 dial.
[Cf. carl v.2]
1. = carling2.
| 1875 Robinson Whitby Gloss. (E.D.S.) Carlings or Carls, are gray peas steeped in water and fried the next day in butter or fat..They are eaten on the second Sunday before Easter, formerly called ‘Care Sunday’. |
2. Carl Sunday = Carling or Care Sunday.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 130/1 The 5 Sunday in Lent called Carle Sunday. 1788 Marshall E. Yorksh. (E.D.S.) s.v. Carlings, The Sunday next but one before Easter, which is called Carl-Sunday. |
▪ III. carl, v.1
[? f. carl n.1]
† 1. intr. (?) To act or behave like a carl; to talk with a gruff, snarling voice, to snarl. Still dial.
| 1602 Return fr. Parnass v. iv. (Arb.) 72 Nought can great Furor do, but barke and howle, And snarle and grin, and carle, and towze the world, Like a great swine. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. i. v. (1651) 60 They Carle many times as they sit, and talk to themselves, they are angry, waspish. 1875 Robinson Whitby Gloss. Carl, to snarl. |
2. trans. To provide or suit with a male. Sc.
| 1807 Knickbie Wayside Cott. 177 (Jam.) If she could get herself but carl'd..She wi' her din ne'er deav'd the warld. |
▪ IV. carl, v.2 dial.
[Of uncertain origin.
(Perh. a back-formation from carling2 ‘parched peas’, taken as a participial form.)]
trans. To prepare as carlings; to parch (peas); to birsle or bristle. Hence carled ppl. a.
| 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Groule, Febves groulées, parched or carled Beanes. 1862 Leeds Dial. 263 Carled peas, grey peas steeped all night in water and fried the following day with butter. 1863 Mrs. Toogood Yorksh. Dial., The sun carls the hay and makes it crackly. Ibid., T'ground is sumpy underneath, but carled on top. |