English
hull
Hull comes from Middle English hul ‘seed covering, hull of a ship’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *hul-.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hul-reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hulu‘seed covering’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hul‘seed covering, hull of a ship’
- Englishtodayhull
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hul-reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hulu‘seed covering’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hul‘seed covering, hull of a ship’
- Englishtodayhull
The story
For the sense development, compare French coque (‘nutshell; ship's hull’), Ancient Greek φάσηλος (phásēlos, “bean pod; yacht”).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ‘to cover, hide’
color, hell, hole, cell, hall, holder, ceiling, helmet, halt, helm, hollow, holden, conceal, uphold, clandestine, sari, occult, sala, cilia, recline, declination, declension, tricolour, holing, haugh, seel, halberd, hele, 37 more
Another origin of hull
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500holle‘hull, hold of a ship, ship’
- Englishtodayhull
Possibly a variant and special use of Etymology 1 above, conformed to hull. Alternatively, a variant of Middle English hole, hoole, holle (“hiding place, lair, den, shelter, compartment”, literally “hole, hollow”), related to Middle Dutch and Dutch hol (‘hole, ship's cargo hold’).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.
Today it means
noun The outer covering of a fruit or seed.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *hul- / hull