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carl

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carl¹

  • /kɑːl/ England
  • /kɑɹl̩/ US
  • /kɑrəl/ Scotland

Rhymes with -ɑːl, -ɑɹl̩

Where it comes from

From Middle English carl, from Old English carl, a borrowing from Old Norse karl (“man, husband”), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz. Doublet of ceorl, churl, and karl.

noun carls

  1. A rude, rustic man; a churl. In Lent noblemen and carls alike had got into the traces and pulled the carts of stone themselves.

    Similar: hick, hob, bogger, bogtrotter, boor, bucolic, bydlo, culchie, carl, churl, corncob, cornhusker

  2. Scotland, obsolete A stingy person; a niggard.

    Similar: skinflint, tightwad, carl, cheapass, cheapie, cheapskate, cheapo, churl, clutchfist, el cheapo, last of the big spenders, magpie

carl²

Where it comes from

Uncertain.

verb carls · carling · carled · carle

  1. intransitive, obsolete To snarl; to talk grumpily or gruffly. […] full of ache, sorrow, and grief, children again, dizzards, they carle many times as they sit, and talk to themselves, they are angry, waspish, displeased with everything […]

Carl³

  • /kɑːl/
  • /kɑɹl/
  • /kaɾ(ə)l/ Scotland

Sounds like Karl, (Scotland) Carol · Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)l

Where it comes from

From Germanic, cognate with English Charles.

* From German and other north European Carl and Karl.

* From Latin Carolus.

proper noun Carls · Karl

  1. A male given name from the Germanic languages, equivalent to English Charles. Of course you know that Carl Duruside, or 'Doctor Carl', as he is always called by almost anybody, is my husband's brother?

Carl⁴

  • /kɑːl/
  • /kɑɹl/
  • /kaɾ(ə)l/ Scotland

Sounds like Karl, (Scotland) Carol · Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)l

Where it comes from

Shortening.

noun Carls

  1. informal A student at Carleton College, Minnesota. Located in rural Minnesota, Carleton is not surrounded by any cultural diversity unless you count pig farms and cow farms as separately diverse institutions. The nice thing about Carleton is that Carls are pretty much non-judgmental […]

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: pain, dear, carle, buddy, kar, bob, slavery, hat, jack, carr, car, qar, curry, carla, karl, samuel

Translations

Every language

name transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"

한국어칼 Kal
日本語カル Karu, カール Kāru
中文卡爾 /卡尔 Kǎ'ěr
हिन्दीकार्ल kārl
ΕλληνικάΚαρλ, Κάρλος Kárlos
РусскийКарл
العربيةكَارْل karl
עבריתקרל qarl

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MLA

"carl." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/carl. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

carl. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/carl

Chicago

"carl." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/carl.

BibTeX
@misc{carl_2026,
  title = {carl},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/carl},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}