churl

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /tʃɝl/ UK /tʃɜːl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a rude, surly, or ill-bred person

Only a churl would refuse such a gracious invitation.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a rude, surly, or ill-bred... boor loutoafpeasant yokel brute

Opposites

gentleman noble aristocrat

Word family

Derived forms churlish

Related forms churlishceorl

Simplified etymology

Churl was an Old English word for an ordinary peasant, distinguished in Anglo-Saxon society from a noble earl or a thane who had been granted land by the king. It is the source of churlish.

Etymology

From Old English ceorl ('a freeman of the lowest rank, peasant, man'), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz ('free man, common man'); the disparaging 'rude person' sense developed later.

ceorl Old English *karilaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# churl

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /tʃɝl/
**IPA (UK):** /tʃɜːl/

## Meanings
1. a rude, surly, or ill-bred person

## Examples
- Only a churl would refuse such a gracious invitation.

## Synonyms
- boor
- lout
- oaf
- peasant
- yokel
- brute

## Antonyms
- gentleman
- noble
- aristocrat

## Derived Forms
- churlish

## Related Forms
- churlish
- ceorl

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ceorl
- Root: *karilaz

## Etymology
From Old English ceorl ('a freeman of the lowest rank, peasant, man'), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz ('free man, common man'); the disparaging 'rude person' sense developed later.

## AI Etymology
Churl is from Old English ceorl ('a freeman of the lowest rank, peasant, man'), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz ('free man, common man'); the disparaging 'rude person' sense developed later. Important recorded forms include ceorl (Old English) and *karilaz (Proto-Germanic). The current sense covers a rude, surly, or ill-bred person. The wider family includes derived forms such as churlish and related words such as churlish and ceorl.

## Topics
- People & Society

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