jowl

jowl · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kafl“jaw, cheek”
2. Old English · inherited fromċeafl“jaw, cheek”
3. Middle English · inherited fromjawle
4. English todayjowl

From Middle English jawle, chawl, chavel (“jaw, jawbone”), from Old English ċeafl (“jaw, cheek”), from Proto-West Germanic *kafl (“jaw, cheek”). The modern form (for expected chavel, chawl; still found dialectally) is influenced by jaw, which it is a partial doublet of.

jowl · noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gʷelu-“to swallow”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*kelǭ“gullet”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kelā
4. Old English · inherited fromċeole“throat”
5. Middle English · inherited fromcholle“wattle, jowl”
6. English todayjowl

From Middle English cholle (“wattle, jowl”), from Old English ċeole (“throat”), from Proto-West Germanic *kelā, from Proto-Germanic *kelǭ (“gullet”) (compare Scots choll, West Frisian kiel, Dutch keel, German Kehle), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelu- (“to swallow”) (compare Old Irish in·gilid (“to graze”), Irish goile (“stomach”), Latin gula (“throat”), gluttiō (“to swallow”), Russian глота́ть (glotátʹ, “to swallow, gulp”), Ancient Greek δέλεαρ (délear, “lure”), Armenian կլանել (klanel, “to swallow”), Persian گلو (galu), Hindi गला (galā, “neck, throat”)).

jowl · verb, noun³

1. Middle English · inherited fromjollen
2. English todayjowl

From Middle English jollen, chollen (“to knock, strike, batter; stagger”). Related to jow (“to knock, bump, ring”).

Words from the same roots