karl

Inherited from Old Norse karl (“man”), from Proto-Norse ᚲᚨᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (karilaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz, cognate with English churl, German Kerl, Dutch kerel.

• IPA^(key): /kaːˀl/, [ˈkʰæˀl]

karl c (singular definite karlen, plural indefinite karle)

1. farmhand (a man working at a farm)
2. groom, ostler (a man looking after horses)
3. (informal) bloke, chap, guy

Inherited from Old Norse karl, from Proto-Norse ᚲᚨᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (karilaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz.

IPA^(key): /kʰa(r)tl/

• (Northern Iceland, Southern Iceland) IPA^(key): [kʰɐ(r)tɬ], [kʰɐ(ɾ)tɬ].
• Rhymes: -artl, -atl

• (Reykjavik) IPA^(key): [kʰɐɾtɬ]

  • Audio:

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• (Reykjavik) IPA^(key): [kʰɐtːɬ]

  • Audio:

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karl m (genitive singular karls, nominative plural karlar)

1. man (male human)
2. husband
3. male (of a species)
4. (video games) a character (in a video game, or in a RPG)
5. (chess) chess piece, chessman

• (man): karlmaður m, maður m
• (husband): eiginmaður m, maður m
• (male of a species): karldýr n
• (a character): persóna f, tölvuleikapersóna f
• (chess piece): taflmaður m, maður m

Inherited from Old Norse karl.

karl m

1. Alternative spelling of kall

• “karl” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

• kall

Inherited from Proto-Norse ᚲᚨᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (karilaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz. Compare Old English ċeorl, ċiorl, Old High German karal, karl.

karl m

1. man
2. freeman; one belonging to the social class between slaves and nobles
   • c. 900, Vitgeirr the sorcerer, loose stanza

     Þat’s vǫ́ lítil, · at vér síðim
     karla bǫrn · ok kerlinga,
     es Rǫgnvaldr síðr · réttilbeini
     hróðmǫgr Haralds · á Haðalandi.

     It's little harm that we should practice sorcery,
     the children of peasants and their wives,
     when Rainwald ‘straight-leg’ practices sorcery,
     Harold’s famous son, in Hadeland.

• kerling f (“woman, wife of a freeman”)
• þræll f (“slave”)
• jarl f (“nobleman, earl”)

• Icelandic: karl
• Faroese: kallur
• Norwegian: kall, kar
  • → Danish: kar
    • Norwegian Bokmål: kar
• Jamtish: kall, karr (< *karaz)
• Elfdalian: kall
• Old Swedish: karilʀ^[1][2]
  • Swedish: karl
• Danish: karl, kal
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kall
• ⇒ Old Norse: Karl (given name)^[3]
  • Icelandic: Karl, Carl
  • Faroese: Karl
  • Norwegian: Karl, Carl
  • Old Swedish: Karl
    • Swedish: Karl, Carl
  • Old Danish: Karl
    • Danish: Karl, Carl
      • → Greenlandic: Karl, Kaarali, Kaarale
  • ⇒ Old Norse: Karli, Karle, Kalli (diminutive)
    • Icelandic: Karli
    • Norwegian: Karle, Kalle, Calle
    • Old Swedish: Karle, Kalle
      • Swedish: Karli, Karle, Carli, Carlie, Karly, Kalle, Calle
        • → Estonian: Kalle
    • Old Danish: Karli
      • Danish: Karli, Karly, Kalle, Calle
        • → Greenlandic: Kaali
    • → Finnish: Karli, Karle, Kaarle, Kalle, Kale, Kali, Kalla, Kallu
      • → Estonian: Kalle
      • → Swedish: Kaarle
    • → Sami: Gállá, Kálle
  • → English: Karl, Carl
    • → Cebuano: Karl, Carl
  • → Finnish: Karl
  • → Sami: Kárral
• → Middle English: carl
  • Scots: carl, cairl, karl
  • English: carl

• “karl”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Inherited from Old Swedish karilʀ, from Old Norse karl, from Proto-Norse ᚲᚨᚱᛁᛚᚨᛉ (karilaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *karilaz.

• IPA^(key): /kɑːr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: kar

karl c

1. man (male human)

   Synonym: man

   Bra karl reder sig själv

   A good man manages on his own (proverb)

   • 1970, “Sjörövar-Fabbe”, Astrid Lindgren (lyrics), Georg Riedel (music)‎^[1]:

     Sjörövar-Fabbe, farfars far, är minsann en sjusärdeles karl. Kring alla hav han far och far, tjohej hadelittan lej.

     Pirate Fabbe, my great-grandfather, is indeed a remarkable man [or "one hell of a man," except not vulgar]. Around all the seas he sails [goes/travels] and sails, tjohej hadelittan lej [nonsense phrase].

   • 1972, Ted Gärdestad (lyrics and music), “Jag vill ha en egen måne”‎^[2]:

     Du har då aldrig trott på tårar. Det passar inte för en karl. Om man är över femton vårar, finns inga känslor kvar.

     You have never believed in tears [The "då" roughly works as an emphasizer: "Well, you have ..."]. It doesn't suit a man. If you are over fifteen years old [over fifteen springs], there are no feelings left.

2. husband

   Synonyms: man, make

3. (male) member of a work force, employed to perform some particularly heavy or physically demanding job

Has connotations of being manly, and is as such somewhat frowned upon by certain feminists; but it also may have connotations of being able to perform a certain task. Compare the formulaic expression karl för sin ... (with some attribute), which denotes someone who is up to par with his role, and is able to perform at least by some minimal standards on his own. Here the role is usually something associated with the given attribute, though karl för sin hatt is associated with a more generic male role.

• manlig (“manly”)

• karl in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• karl in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• karl in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

• klar