English
charnel
Charnel comes from Old French charnel ‘carnal’, and goes back to Late Latin carnāle ‘graveyard’.
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcarnāle‘graveyard’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400charnel‘carnal’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500charnel
- Englishearliest quotation 1850charnel
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcarnāle‘graveyard’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400charnel‘carnal’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500charnel
- Englishearliest quotation 1850charnel
Earliest quotation: 1850, [Alfred, Canto XXXI: “When Lazarus left his charnel-cave, And home to Mary’s…”
Linked words
through Old French charnel ‘carnal’
Another origin of charnel
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcardō‘door hinge’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcardinālis‘relating to a hinge’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400charnel
- Englishtodaycharnel
Today it means
noun A chapel attached to a mortuary.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Late Latin carnāle / charnel