Standard Lemma guide

carl

name · noun · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /kɑːl/ non-rhotic
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /kɑɹl/ rhotic
  • Scotland: /kaɾ(ə)l/
  • homophone: Karl
  • homophone: (Scotland) Carol
  • rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)l
  • England: /kɑːl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /kɑɹl̩/
  • Scotland: /kɑrəl/
  • rhymes with -ɑːl
  • rhymes with -ɑɹl̩
  • CMU ARPABET: K AA1 R L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A male given name from the Germanic languages, equivalent to English Charles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A rude, rustic man; a churl.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hick, hob, bogger, bogtrotter, boor, bucolic, bydlo, culchie, carl, churl, corncob, cornhusker, country bumpkin, country cousin, clodhopper, dubbo, joskin, hayseed, hobnail, hog-rubber, honyock, hunk, lob, promdi, provincial, rube, rustic, woolly back, yokel

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A stingy person; a niggard.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Scotland, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: skinflint, tightwad, carl, cheapass, cheapie, cheapskate, cheapo, churl, clutchfist, el cheapo, last of the big spenders, magpie, miser, moneygrubber, muckworm, nickel nurser, nig, niggard, nigon, nipcheese, nipfarthing, penny-father, penny pincher, pickpenny, piker, pinch-commons, pinch-gut, pincher, pinchfist, pinchpenny, scrimp, scrooge, snudge, squirrel, tight-arse

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A student at Carleton College, Minnesota.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To snarl; to talk grumpily or gruffly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Germanic, cognate with English Charles. * From German and other north European Carl and Karl. * From Latin Carolus.

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.

Shortening.

Uncertain.

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: Kërl — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Albanian: Karl — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Arabic: كَارْل (karl) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Armenian: Կարլ — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Belarusian: Карл — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Bengali: কার্ল (karlo) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Bulgarian: Карл — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Chinese Mandarin: 卡爾 /卡尔 (Kǎ'ěr) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Esperanto: Karlo — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Georgian: კარლი (ḳarli) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Greek: Καρλ — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Greek: Κάρλος (Kárlos) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Hebrew: קרל (qarl) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Hindi: कार्ल (kārl) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Japanese: カル (Karu) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Japanese: カール (Kāru) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Kazakh: Карл — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Khmer: កាល់ (kal) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Korean: 칼 (Kal) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Latvian: Kārls — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Macedonian: Карл — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Marathi: कार्ल (kārla) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Mongolian: Карл — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Persian: کارل (kârl) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Russian: Карл — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Serbo-Croatian: Карл — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Slovak: Karol — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Tajik: Карл — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Tamil: கார்ல் (kārl) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Telugu: కార్ల్ (kārl) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Thai: คาร์ล (kaan) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Ukrainian: Карл — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Urdu: کارل (kārl) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"
  • Yiddish: קאַרל (karl) — transliterations and equivalents of "Carl"