English
caul
Caul comes from Old English cāwl ‘basket’, from Latin cavea ‘hollow, cavity’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *kawos.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kawosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavus‘hollow’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CE*caveusreconstructed
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavea‘hollow, cavity’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CE*cavallumreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cāwl‘basket’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500calle
- Englishearliest quotation 1590caul
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kawosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavus‘hollow’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CE*caveusreconstructed
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavea‘hollow, cavity’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CE*cavallumreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cāwl‘basket’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500calle
- Englishearliest quotation 1590caul
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto VII: “Ne spared they to strip her naked all. /…”
The story
Reinforced by Old French cale (‘close-fitting cap’), possibly a borrowing of the Old English term above, or alternatively related to Old French calotte (‘headdress’), from Italian callotta, from Latin calautica (‘type of female headdress which fell down over the shoulders’), itself of unknown origin.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- ‘to swell’
church, kirk, hound, cyst, cumulus, cajole, 37 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱowh₁ós
through Proto-Italic *kawos
through Latin cavus ‘hollow’
cave, cavity, excavation, excavate, cavil, 15 more
through Latin *caveus
through Latin cavea ‘hollow, cavity’
Today it means
noun A style of close-fitting circular cap worn by women in the sixteenth century and later, often made of linen.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kawos / caul