English
cool
Cool comes from Old English cōl ‘cool, cold’, from Proto-Germanic *kōluz, from *kalaną ‘to be cold’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘to freeze’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-‘to be cold, to freeze’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kalaną‘to be cold, to freeze’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kōluz‘cool’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kōl(ī)reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cōl‘cool, cold, calm’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cool
- Englishearliest quotation 1749same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-‘to be cold, to freeze’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kalaną‘to be cold, to freeze’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kōluz‘cool’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kōl(ī)reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cōl‘cool, cold, calm’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cool
- Englishearliest quotation 1749same form
Earliest quotation: 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: “Who will lend me a cool hundred.”
Linked words
through Old English cōl ‘cool, cold, tranquil, calm’
Another origin of cool
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gól-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kalaną‘to be cold, to freeze’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kōluzreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kōl(ī)reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*kōlēn‘to become cold’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cōlian‘to cool, grow cold, be cold’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500colen
- Englishtodaycool
Also partially from Middle English kelen, from Old English cēlan (‘to cool, be cold, become cold’), from Proto-West Germanic *kōlijan, from Proto-Germanic *kōlijaną (‘to cool’), altered to resemble the adjective cool.
Today it means
adj Of a mildly low temperature.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gel- / cool