cowl

cowl · noun, verb¹

1. Latin · derived fromcucullus“hood”
2. Ecclesiastical Latin · derived fromcuculla“monk's cowl”
3. Old English · inherited fromcūle
4. Middle English · inherited fromcoule
5. English todaycowl

From Middle English coule, from Old English cūle, from earlier cugele (“hood, cowl”), from Ecclesiastical Latin cuculla (“monk's cowl”), from Latin cucullus (“hood”), of uncertain origin. Doublet of cagoule.

cowl · noun²

1. Latin · derived fromcūpa“tub, cask, tun, vat”
2. Old French · derived fromcuvel“vat”
3. Middle English · inherited fromcoul
4. English todaycowl

From Middle English coul, covel, from Old French cuvel (“vat”), diminutive of cuve, from Latin cūpa (“tub, cask, tun, vat”).

cowl · noun³

See caul, probably altered due to semantic association (“something covering the head”).

cowl · adjective⁴

1. Middle English · derived fromcold
2. Ulster Scots · borrowed fromcoul
3. English todaycowl

Borrowed from Ulster Scots coul, from Middle English cold.

Words from the same roots