churl

English

WOTD – 14 March 2022

Etymology

From Middle English churl, cherl, cheorl (“person not of the nobility or clergy; bondsman, serf, villein; peasant; (also figuratively) servant, slave; unlearned or unrefined person, boor, ignoramus; chap, fellow, man; husband”) [and other forms], from Old English ċeorl (“freeman ranking below a þegn but above a thrall; commoner, peasant; countryman, husbandman; man; husband”), from Proto-West Germanic *kerl, from Proto-Germanic *karilaz (“elder; man”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂- (“to grow old; to mature”). Doublet of carl, carle.

Sense 2.1 (“rough, surly, ill-bred person”) is probably an extension of sense 1 (“free peasant of the lowest rank; person without royal or noble status; bondman, serf”) and sense 2.2 (“countryman, peasant, rustic”). Sense 2.3 (“person who is stingy”) was influenced by Nabal, who is described in the King James Version of the Bible as “churlish and evil in his doings”; when Nabal, a rich man, is asked to give provisions to David’s men, he replies, “Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? There be many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?” (1 Samuel 25:3 and 10–11; spelling modernized).

cognates

• Danish karl (“fellow, young man, farmhand”)
• Dutch kerel (“churl; fellow, man”)
• Low German kerl, kerel, kirl (“churl; fellow, man”)
• North Frisian tzierl, tjierl, tsjerl (“churl; fellow, man”)
• Old High German charl, charlo (German Kerl (“fellow, man”))
• Old Norse karl (“man”) (Icelandic karl (“man”))
• Polish karzeł (“small man”)
• Scots churl (“a churl; a rustic”)
• Swedish karl (“fellow, man”)
• West Frisian tsjirl (“churl; fellow, man”)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /tʃɜːl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃɝl/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)l

Noun

churl (plural churls)

1. (feudalism, obsolete except historical)
   1. A free peasant (as opposed to a serf) of the lowest rank, below an earl and a thane; a freeman; also (more generally), a person without royal or noble status; a commoner.
      • 1612, [Miguel de Cervantes], “Wherein is Rehearsed the Vnfortunate Aduenture Hapned to Don-Quixote, by Encountring with Certaine Yanguesian Carriers”, in Thomas Shelton, transl., The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha. […], London: […] William Stansby, for Ed[ward] Blount and W. Barret, →OCLC, part 3, page 116:

        [F]rom this time forvvard I do pardon before God all the vvrongs that they haue done, or ſhall doe vnto me, vvhether they vvere, be, or ſhall be done by high or lovv perſon, rich or poore, Gentleman or Churle, vvithout excepting any ſtate or condition.

   2. A bondman or serf.
2. (by extension)
   1. (derogatory) A rough, surly, ill-bred person; a boor. [from 14th c.]

      Synonyms: lout, yokel; see also Thesaurus:bumpkin, Thesaurus:country bumpkin

      • c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:

        [A] churles curtesie rathely comes but either for gaine, or falshood.

      • 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, pages 106–107:

        Thus ſay the common People that knovv him, A Saint abroad, and a Devil at home: His poor Family finds it ſo, he is ſuch a churl, ſuch a railer at, and ſo unreaſonable vvith his Servants, that they neither knovv hovv to do for, or ſpeak to him.

      • 1821, Lord Byron, “Sardanapalus”, in Sardanapalus, a Tragedy; The Two Foscari, a Tragedy; Cain, a Mystery, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 10:

        Since it must be so, and this churl has check'd / Thy gentle spirit, go; […]

      • 1841, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay IV. Spiritual Laws.”, in Essays, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, pages 120–121:

        There are graces in the demeanor of a polished and noble person, which are lost upon the eye of a churl.

      • 1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter IV, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book V, page 54:

        "Unmannerly churl!" exclaimed Sybil starting in her chair, her eye flashing lightning, her distended nostril quivering with scorn. "Oh! yes, I am a churl," said Morley; "I know I am a churl. Were I a noble the daughter of the people would perhaps condescend to treat me with less contempt."

        Sybil uses churl in the current sense; Morley uses the word in sense 1.1.

   2. (archaic) A countryman, a peasant, a rustic.

      Synonyms: carl, fieldling; see also Thesaurus:rural dweller

      • 1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Lady of Shalott”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, part the second, page 11:

        And, as the mazy web she whirls, / She sees the surly village-churls, / And the red cloaks of market-girls, / Pass onward from Shalott.

      • 1859, George Meredith, “A Fine Distinction”, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, page 179:

        “A see T’m Baak’ll,” the Bantam recommenced, and again the contortions of a horrible wink were directed at Richard. The boy might well believe this churl was lying, and he did, and was emboldened to exclaim, “You never saw Tom Bakewell set fire to that rick!”

      • 1867, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Adirondacs. A Journal. Dedicated to My Fellow-travellers in August, 1858.”, in May-Day and Other Pieces, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, pages 48–49:

        Look to yourselves, ye polished gentlemen! / No city airs or arts pass current here. / Your rank is all reversed: let men of cloth / Bow to the stalwart churls in overalls: / They are the doctors of the wilderness, / And we the low-priced laymen.

   3. (archaic) A person who is stingy, especially with money; a selfish miser, a niggard.

      Synonyms: (Scotland, obsolete) carl, skinflint; see also Thesaurus:miser

      • c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Iuliet. […] (Second Quarto), London: […] Thomas Creede, for Cuthbert Burby, […], published 1599, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:

        Juli[et]. […] VVhats heere? a cup in my true loues hand? / Poiſon I ſee hath bin his timeleſſe end: / O churle [referring to Romeo], drunke all, and left no friendly drop.

      • 1605, Michaell Draiton [i.e., Michael Drayton], Poems: […], London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] Ling, →OCLC:

        VVrong not thy faire youth, nor the vvorld depriue / Of that great riches Nature freely lent, / Pitie 'tvvere they by niggardize ſhould thriue. / VVhoſe vvealth by vvaxing craueth to be ſpent, / For vvhich thou after iuſtly ſhall be ſhent; / Like to ſome rich churle burying his pelfe, / Both to vvrong others, and to ſterue himſelfe.

      • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 1”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […]‎^[1], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

        VVithin thine ovvne bud burieſt thy content, / And tender chorle makſt waſt in niggarding: […]

      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 32:5, column 2:

        The vile perſon ſhall be no more called liberall, nor the churle ſayd to be bountifull.

      • 1768, Mr. Yorick [pseudonym; Laurence Sterne], “Calais”, in A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, volume I, London: […] T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, […], →OCLC, page 26:

        [W]hen a few words will reſcue miſery out of her diſtreſs, I hate the man who can be a churl of them.

   4. (Theodism) A freedman, ranked below a thane but above a thrall.

Derived terms

• churlish
• churlishly
• churlishness
• churly

Translations

countryman, peasant, rustic — see peasant

rough, surly, ill-bred person — see also boor

• Bulgarian: грубиян (bg) m (grubijan)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 粗人 (zh) (cūrén)

• French: rustre (fr) m
• Galician: pailán m, pailaroco m, pastrán (gl) m, paspán (gl) m
• German: Kerl (de) m
• Irish: aitheach m, bod (ga) m, bodach m, ceamalach m, daoi m
• Italian: bifolco (it) m, burino (it)
• Japanese: 不作法な人 (ぶさほうなにん, busahōnanin)
• Maori: atuapo
• Portuguese: cafajeste (pt) m
• Russian: грубия́н (ru) m (grubiján), мужла́н (ru) m (mužlán), хам (ru) m (xam), жлоб (ru) m (žlob)
• Spanish: paleto (es) m(Spain), montañero m
• Volapük: grobälan (vo) (male, female), higrobälan (male), jigrobälan (female)

person who is stingy, especially with money — see miser

freedman ranked below a thane but above a thrall — see freedman

Further reading

• churl on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• lurch