The story
- Latin · derived fromcarbunculus“a small coal; a reddish kind of precious stone; a kind of tumor”
- Old French · derived fromcarbuncle
- Middle English · inherited fromcarbuncle
- English todaycarbuncle
From Middle English carbuncle, charbocle, from Old French carbuncle, charbuncle, from Latin carbunculus (“a small coal; a reddish kind of precious stone; a kind of tumor”), diminutive of carbō (“a coal, charcoal”). Doublet of Garfinkel and Garfunkel.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.