Etymology

noel

No·el
N1O1E1L1

Today it means: A kind of hymn, or canticle, of mediaeval origin, sung in honor of the birth of Christ; a Christmas carol. Full definition →

Middle English nowel ← Anglo-Norman noel ← Middle French noel
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noel · noun, interjection1

  1. Middle French · derived fromnoel
  2. Anglo-Norman · derived fromnoel
  3. Middle English · derived fromnowel
  4. English todaynoel

From Middle English nowel, from Anglo-Norman noel, Middle French noel, a variant of nael, from Latin adjective nātālis (“natal, having to do with birth”).

Noel · proper noun2

  1. Latin · derived fromnātālis [diēs Dominī]“birth[day of the Lord]”
  2. Old French · derived fromNoel“Christmas”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromNowel
  4. English todayNoel

From Middle English Nowel, borrowed from Old French Noel (“Christmas”), from Latin nātālis [diēs Dominī] (“birth[day of the Lord]”). Doublet of nada, natal, Natal, and née.

Noel · proper noun3

* (names): From Noel in the sense of Christmas; given since Middle Ages to children born at Christmastide. * (city in Missouri): Named for brothers Clark Wallace and William Jasper Noel, stockmen and owners of a sawmill. * (community of Nova Scotia, Canada): Named after its most prominent resident, Noël Doiron.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishnowel all →

nowellnewel

Old FrenchNoel all →

nowellnewelnoyau

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.