''churl'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''churl'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260125204041-00-⌔

churl - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

churl (plural churls)

• (feudalism, obsolete except historical)
  • A free peasant (as opposed to a serf) of the lowest rank, below an earl and a thane; a freeman; also (more generally), a person without royal or noble status; a commoner.
    • ✤ [F]rom this time forvvard I do pardon before God all the vvrongs that they haue done, or ſhall doe vnto me, vvhether they vvere, be, or ſhall be done by high or lovv perſon, rich or poore, Gentleman or Churle, vvithout excepting any ſtate or condition.¹
  • A bondman or serf.
• (by extension)
  • (derogatory) A rough, surly, ill-bred person; a boor. [from 14th c.]
    • ✤ Synonyms: lout, yokel; see also Thesaurus: bumpkin, Thesaurus: country bumpkin
    • ✤ [A] churle s curtesie rathely comes but either for gaine, or falshood.²
    • ✤ Thus ſay the common People that knovv him, A Saint abroad, and a Devil at home: His poor Family finds it ſo, he is ſuch a churl, ſuch a railer at, and ſo unreaſonable vvith his Servants, that they neither knovv hovv to do for, or ſpeak to him.³
    • ✤ Since it must be so, and this churl has check’d/Thy gentle spirit, go; […]⁴
    • ✤ There are graces in the demeanor of a polished and noble person, which are lost upon the eye of a churl.⁵
    • ✤ “Unmannerly churl!” exclaimed Sybil starting in her chair, her eye flashing lightning, her distended nostril quivering with scorn. “Oh! yes, I am a churl,” said Morley; “I know I am a churl. Were I a noble the daughter of the people would perhaps condescend to treat me with less contempt.”⁶
  • (archaic) A countryman, a peasant, a rustic.
    • ✤ Synonyms: carl, fieldling; see also Thesaurus: rural dweller
    • ✤ And, as the mazy web she whirls,/She sees the surly village- churls,/And the red cloaks of market-girls,/Pass onward from Shalott.⁷
    • ✤ “A see T’m Baak’ll,” the Bantam recommenced, and again the contortions of a horrible wink were directed at Richard. The boy might well believe this churl was lying, and he did, and was emboldened to exclaim, “You never saw Tom Bakewell set fire to that rick!”⁸
    • ✤ Look to yourselves, ye polished gentlemen!/No city airs or arts pass current here./Your rank is all reversed: let men of cloth/Bow to the stalwart churls in overalls:/They are the doctors of the wilderness,/And we the low-priced laymen.⁹
  • (archaic) A person who is stingy, especially with money; a selfish miser, a niggard.
    • ✤ Synonyms: (Scotland, obsolete) carl, skinflint; see also Thesaurus: miser
    • ✤ Juli [et]. […] VVhats heere? a cup in my true loues hand?/Poiſon I ſee hath bin his timeleſſe end:/O churle [referring to Romeo], drunke all, and left no friendly drop.¹⁰
    • ✤ VVrong not thy faire youth, nor the vvorld depriue/Of that great riches Nature freely lent,/Pitie ‘tvvere they by niggardize ſhould thriue./VVhoſe vvealth by vvaxing craueth to be ſpent,/For vvhich thou after iuſtly ſhall be ſhent;/Like to ſome rich churle burying his pelfe,/Both to vvrong others, and to ſterue himſelfe.¹¹
    • ✤ VVithin thine ovvne bud burieſt thy content,/And tender chorle makſt waſt in niggarding: […]¹²
    • ✤ The vile perſon ſhall be no more called liberall, nor the churle ſayd to be bountifull.¹³
    • ✤ [W]hen a few words will reſcue miſery out of her diſtreſs, I hate the man who can be a churl of them.¹⁴
  • (Theodism) A freedman, ranked below a thane but above a thrall.

Etymology

Inherited from West Midland Middle English churle (“person not of the nobility or clergy; serf, servant, simpleton, fellow”, East Midland Middle English cherl),¹⁵ from Old English ċeorl (“freeman ranking below a þegn but above a thrall; commoner, peasant; countryman, husbandman; man; husband”), from Proto-West Germanic ﹡kerl, from Proto-Germanic ﹡karilaz (“elder; man”), from Proto-Indo-European ﹡ǵerh₂- (“to grow old; to mature”).¹⁶ Doublet of carl/carle, ceorl, and karl.

Sense 2.1 (“rough, surly, ill-bred person”) is probably an extension of sense 1 (“free peasant of the lowest rank; person without royal or noble status; bondman, serf”) and sense 2.2 (“countryman, peasant, rustic”). Sense 2.3 (“person who is stingy”) was influenced by Nabal, who is described in the King James Version of the Bible as “churlish and evil in his doings”;¹⁷ when Nabal, a rich man, is asked to give provisions to David ’s men, he replies, “Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? There be many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?” (1 Samuel 25:3 and 10–11; spelling modernized).¹⁶¹⁸

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /tʃɜːl/
• (General American) IPA: /t͡ʃɝl/
• Audio (General American): 🔊
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)l

Printed 2026-06-28.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

1. 1612, [Miguel de Cervantes], “Wherein is Rehearsed the Vnfortunate Aduenture Hapned to Don-Quixote, by Encountring with Certaine Yanguesian Carriers”, in Thomas Shelton, transl., The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha. […], London: […] William Stansby, for Ed[ward] Blount and W. Barret, →OCLC, part 3, page 116: ↩

2. c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC: ↩

3. 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, pages 106–107: ↩

4. 1821, Lord Byron, “Sardanapalus”, in Sardanapalus, a Tragedy; The Two Foscari, a Tragedy; Cain, a Mystery, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 10: ↩

5. 1841, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay IV. Spiritual Laws.”, in Essays, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, pages 120–121: ↩

6. 1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter IV, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book V, page 54: ↩

7. 1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Lady of Shalott”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, part the second, page 11: ↩

8. 1859, George Meredith, “A Fine Distinction”, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, page 179: ↩

9. 1867, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Adirondacs. A Journal. Dedicated to My Fellow-travellers in August, 1858.”, in May-Day and Other Pieces, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, pages 48–49: ↩

10. c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], * […] Romeo and Iuliet. […]* (Second Quarto), London: […] Thomas Creede, for Cuthbert Burby, […], published 1599, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]: ↩

11. 1630, Michaell Draiton [i.e., Michael Drayton], Poems: […], London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] Ling, →OCLC: ↩

12. 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 1”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […] ‎${}^{[1]}$, London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC: ↩

13. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 32:5, column 2: ↩

14. 1768, Mr. Yorick [pseudonym; Laurence Sterne], “Calais”, in A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, volume I, London: […] T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, […], →OCLC, page 26: ↩

15. “chē̆rl, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007. ↩

16. “churl, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2021; “churl, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. ↩ ↩²

17. The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, →OCLC, 1 Samuel 25:3, column 2: “Now the name of the man was Nabal, […] the man was churliſh and euill in his doings, […]” ↩

18. The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, →OCLC, 1 Samuel 25:10–11: “ Who is Dauid? and who is the ſonne of Jeſſe? There bee many ſeruants now a daies that breake away euery man from his maſter. Shall I then take my bread and my water, and my fleſh that I haue killed for my ſhearers, and giue it vnto men, whom I know not whence they bee? ” ↩

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