English
carousel
Carousel comes from French carrousel ‘carousel, merry-go-round’, and goes back to Italian carosello.
- Italianc. 1300–presentcarosello‘merry-go-round (British), carousel (US)’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcarrousel‘carousel, merry-go-round’
- Englishearliest quotation 1951carousel
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Italianc. 1300–presentcarosello‘merry-go-round (British), carousel (US)’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcarrousel‘carousel, merry-go-round’
- Englishearliest quotation 1951carousel
Earliest quotation: 1951, Jerome David Salinger, Boston: “That's one nice thing about carrousels,^([sic]) they always play…”
The story
Some suggested a derivation from carro (‘cart’), from Latin carrus, but this does not fit the criteria of an appropriate morphological reconstruction. Not believed to be related to carousal.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’
current, course, charge, career, occur, carry, currency, rush, hurry, curriculum, carrier, corridor, cargo, carriage, courier, precursor, incur, concur, chariot, cursor, corral, hurrah, recursive, caricature, corsair, recursion, recur, courant, succour, hussar, carrack, 43 more
Today it means
noun A pleasure ride, typically found at amusement parks and fairs and accompanied by music, consisting of a slowly revolving circular platform on which are fixed various seats, frequently shaped like horses or other animals, cars, etc., which may also move up and down; a merry-go-round.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Italian carosello / carousel