Old English · noun

ceorl

Normalised ċeorl

Part of speech: noun, masculine
Declension: strong a-stem
IPA: /t͡ʃe͜orl/
[t͡ʃe͜orˠl]
Syllables: t͡ʃe͜orl (1 syllable)
Modern English: churl ceorl ranked thane thrall peasant freeman below

Meaning

a churl, a freeman ranked below a thane but above a thrall
man

Ġif Cantwara æniġ in Lundenwīċ fēoh ġebyċġe, hæbbe him tweġen oððe ðrēo unfācne ċeorlas tō ġewitnesse oþþe cyninges wīcġerēfan.

If any person of Kent buys property in London, he should have two or three trustworthy men or the king's reeve as a witness.
Laws of Hlothhere and Eadric
peasant

Declension

Declension of ceorl
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ċeorl	ċeorlas
Accusative	ċeorl	ċeorlas
Genitive	ċeorles	ċeorla
Dative	ċeorle	ċeorlum

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *karil, *karul, from Proto-Germanic *karilaz, *karulaz (“man”), akin to Old Frisian tzerl, tzirl (West Frisian tsjirl), Old Norse karl (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish/Danish karl), Old High German karal, Middle Low German kerl (German Kerl). Doublet of carl.

Descendants

ceorl, churl

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ceorl · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution