The story
- Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ḱel-“to cover”
- Ancient Greek · derived fromκολεός“sheath”
- Latin · borrowed fromculeus“large leather sack, punishment of drowning within a sack, unit of bulk liquid measure”
- English todayculeus
From Latin culeus (“large leather sack, punishment of drowning within a sack, unit of bulk liquid measure”), from Ancient Greek κολεός (koleós, “sheath”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of cullion and cojones.
Words from the same roots
Ancient Greekκολεός all →
coleuscoleoptile
Proto-Indo-European*ḱel- all →
cellhallhullhollowhulkhelmlithkilimhelehalfpennyforholdforeholdholk
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.