carl Meaning, Definition & Usage

Carl noun

Etymology

Icel, karl a male, a man; akin to AS. ceorl, OHG. charal, G. kerl fellow. See Churl.

Definitions

1. A rude, rustic man; a churl.

   The miller was a stout carl. Chaucer.

2. Large stalks of hemp which bear the seed; -- called also carl hemp.
3. pl. A kind of food. See citation, below.

   Caring or carl are gray steeped in water and fried the next day in butter or fat. They are eaten on the second Sunday before Easter, formerly called Carl Sunday. Robinson's Whitby Glossary (1875).