karl

English Online Dictionary. What means karl‎? What does karl mean?

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old Norse karl. Doublet of carl, ceorl, and churl.

Noun

karl (plural karls)

1. (historical) A medieval Scandinavian freeman.

   Coordinate terms: jarl, thrall

See also

• hot karl

Danish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Norse karl (“man”), from Proto-Norse ᚲᚨᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (karilaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz, cognate with English churl, German Kerl, Dutch kerel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaːˀl/, [ˈkʰæˀl]

Noun

karl c (singular definite karlen, plural indefinite karle)

1. farmhand (a man working at a farm)
2. groom, ostler (a man looking after horses)
3. (informal) bloke, chap, guy

Declension

Icelandic

Etymology

Inherited from Old Norse karl, from Proto-Norse ᚲᚨᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (karilaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kʰa(r)tl/

• (Northern Iceland, Southern Iceland) IPA^(key): [kʰɐ(r)tɬ], [kʰɐ(ɾ)tɬ].
• Rhymes: -artl, -atl

• (Reykjavik) IPA^(key): [kʰɐɾtɬ]

• (Reykjavik) IPA^(key): [kʰɐtːɬ]

Noun

karl m (genitive singular karls, nominative plural karlar)

1. man (male human)

   Synonyms: karlmaður m, maður m

2. husband

   Synonyms: eiginmaður m, maður m

3. male (of a species)

   Synonym: karldýr n

4. (video games) a character (in a video game, or in an RPG)

   Synonyms: persóna f, tölvuleikapersóna f

5. (chess) chess piece, chessman

   Synonyms: taflmaður m, maður m

Declension

Derived terms

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Inherited from Old Norse karl.

Noun

karl m

1. Alternative spelling of kall

References

• “karl” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• kall

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Norse ᚲᚨᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (karilaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz. Compare Old English ċeorl, ċiorl, Old High German karal, karl.

Noun

karl m

1. man
2. freeman; one belonging to the social class between slaves and nobles
   • c. 900, Vitgeirr the sorcerer, loose stanza

Declension

Coordinate terms

• kerling f (“woman, wife of a freeman”)
• þræll f (“slave”)
• jarl f (“nobleman, earl”)

Derived terms

Descendants

• Icelandic: karl
• Faroese: kallur
• Norwegian: kall, kar
  • → Danish: kar
    • Norwegian Bokmål: kar
• Jamtish: kall, karr (< *karaz)
• Elfdalian: kall
• Old Swedish: karilʀ
  • Swedish: karl
• Danish: karl, kal
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kall
• ⇒ Old Norse: Karl (given name)
  • Icelandic: Karl, Carl
  • Faroese: Karl
  • Norwegian: Karl, Carl
  • Old Swedish: Karl
    • Swedish: Karl, Carl
  • Old Danish: Karl
    • Danish: Karl, Carl
      • → Greenlandic: Karl, Kaarali, Kaarale
  • ⇒ Old Norse: Karli, Karle, Kalli (diminutive)
    • Icelandic: Karli
    • Norwegian: Karle, Kalle, Calle
    • Old Swedish: Karle, Kalle
      • Swedish: Karli, Karle, Carli, Carlie, Karly, Kalle, Calle
        • → Estonian: Kalle
    • Old Danish: Karli
      • Danish: Karli, Karly, Kalle, Calle
        • → Greenlandic: Kaali
    • → Finnish: Karli, Karle, Kaarle, Kalle, Kale, Kali, Kalla, Kallu
      • → Estonian: Kalle
      • → Swedish: Kaarle
    • → Sami: Gállá, Kálle
  • → English: Karl, Carl
    • → Cebuano: Karl, Carl
  • → Finnish: Karl
  • → Sami: Kárral
• → English: karl (learned)
• → Middle English: carl
  • Scots: carl, cairl, karl
  • English: carl

References

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “karl”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Swedish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Swedish karilʀ, from Old Norse karl, from Proto-Norse ᚲᚨᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (karilaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɑːr/
• Homophone: kar

Noun

karl c

1. man (male human)

   Synonym: man
2. husband

   Synonyms: man, make

3. (male) member of a work force, employed to perform some particularly heavy or physically demanding job

Usage notes

Has connotations of being manly, and is as such somewhat frowned upon by certain feminists; but it also may have connotations of being able to perform a certain task. Compare the formulaic expression karl för sin ... (with some attribute), which denotes someone who is up to par with his role, and is able to perform at least by some minimal standards on his own. Here the role is usually something associated with the given attribute, though karl för sin hatt is associated with a more generic male role.

Declension

Derived terms

See also

• manlig (“manly”)

References

• karl in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• karl in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• karl in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• klar