Etymology

churlish

C3H4U1R1L1I1S1H4

Today it means: Of or pertaining to a serf, peasant, or rustic. Full definition →

First used late 14th c.Middle English cherlisch ← Old English ċeorlisċ ← Proto-West Germanic *karil
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵerh₂-
  2. Proto-Germanic*karaz
  3. Proto-Germanic*karilaz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*karil
  5. Old Englishċeorl
  6. Old Englishċeorlisċ
  7. Middle Englishcherlisch
  8. English todaychurlish

From Middle English cherlisch, cherlissh, from late Old English ċeorlisċ, ċierlisċ (“of or pertaining to churls”), equivalent to churl + -ish. Piecewise doublet of ceorlish.

First known use, by meaning

  • from late 14th c. Rude, surly, ungracious.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.