cell

cell · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ḱel-“to cover”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ḱelneh₂
3. Proto-Italic · derived from*kelnā
4. Old French · derived fromcele
5. Old French · derived fromcel
6. Latin · derived fromcella“chamber, small room, compartment”
7. Old English · inherited fromcell
8. Middle English · inherited fromcelle
9. English todaycell

From Middle English celle, selle, from Old English cell (attested in inflected forms), from Latin cella (“chamber, small room, compartment”), later reinforced by Old French cel, sele, Old French cele. Ultimately from Proto-Italic *kelnā, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelneh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of cella and hall. Displaced native Old English cleofa whence English cleve.

cell · noun²

Ellipsis of cell phone, itself a clipping of cellular phone, from cellular + phone.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 10th c. A single-room dwelling for a hermit.
• from 11th c. A small monastery or nunnery dependent on a larger religious establishment.
• from 14th c. A small room in a monastery or nunnery accommodating one person.
• from 18th c. A room in a prison or jail for one or more inmates.
• from 14th c. Each of the small hexagonal compartments in a honeycomb.
• from 14th c. Any of various chambers in a tissue or organism having specific functions.
• 14th–19th c. Specifically, any of the supposed compartments of the brain, formerly thought to be the source of specific mental capacities, knowledge, or memories.
• from 16th c. A section or compartment of a larger structure.