Etymology

chawl

C3H4A1W4L1

Today it means: A type of residential tenement building found in India, typically for poor working-class people. Full definition →

Marathi चाळ
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chawl · noun1

  1. Marathi · borrowed fromचाळ
  2. English todaychawl

Borrowed from Marathi चाळ (cāḷ), from Sanskrit. Doublet of cell.

chawl · noun2

  1. Old English · inherited fromċeafl“jaw, jowl”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromchaule
  3. English todaychawl

From Middle English chaule, chavel, from Old English ċeafl (“jaw, jowl”). More at jowl.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishċeafl all →

jowlchavel

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.