English
cavil
Cavil comes from Old French caviller ‘mock, jest, rail’, from Latin cavilla ‘jeering, raillery, scoffing’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *kawos.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kawosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavus‘hollow’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavilla‘jeering, raillery, scoffing’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavillor‘jeer, mock, satirise, reason captiously’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400caviller‘mock, jest, rail’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591cavil
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 CEcavilla‘jeering, raillery, scoffing’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavillor‘jeer, mock, satirise, reason captiously’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400caviller‘mock, jest, rail’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591cavil
Earliest quotation: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “'Tis love you cavil at: I am not Love.”
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
cavern, concave, jailer, 13 more
through Latin cavus ‘hollow’
jail, cage, cave, excavation, gaol, cavity, excavate, caul, 16 more
Today it means
verb To criticise for petty or frivolous reasons.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kawos / cavil