Meanings
plural Charleses
- countableuncountableA male given name from the Germanic languages.
Charles the Great / Subdued the Saxons, and did seat the French / Beyond the river Sala, in the year / Eight hundred five.
1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]4 more examples
[…] there never was any person named Charles who was not an open, manly, honest, good-natured, and frank-hearted fellow, with a rich, clear, voice, that did you good to hear it, and an eye that looked at you always straight at the face, as much as to say: "I have a clear conscience myself, am afraid of no man, and am altogether above doing a mean action." And thus all the hearty, careless, 'walking gentlemen' of the stage are very certain to be called Charles.
1844, Edgar Allan Poe, Thou Art the Man[…] spoke the way the English do, funny, you know? His name was Roger, I think. Or Nigel. Something like that." "How about Charles?" "Charles? Well, yes, it could have been.Charles does sound English, doesn't it? Their prince is named Charles, isn't he?"
1988, Ed McBain, The House That Jack Built, page 212That the Koch organization can even attempt this pivot to a less political and more bipartisan stance speaks to the power of what Charles and David Koch built.
2019 August 23, Chris Cillizza, “How the Koch brothers fundamentally changed modern politics”, in CNNIn a statement posted on social media, Bondi said that the man, identified in court documents as 37-year-old Sean Charles Dunn, has since been fired. […] On Wednesday night, the FBI director, Kash Patel, said that Dunn had been charged with felony assault on a federal officer.
2025 August 14, Anna Betts, “Alleged DC sandwich-thrower worked at justice department, attorney general says”, in The Guardian - countableuncountableA surname originating as a patronymic.
- countableuncountableA neighbourhood of Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounSynonym of Floreana: an island of Galapagos, Ecuador.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*karilaz“free man”
- Old High GermanKarl
- LatinCarolus
- Old FrenchCharles
- FrenchCharles
- EnglishCharles
From French Charles, from Old French Charles, Carles, from Latin Carolus, from and also reinfluenced by Frankish and Old High German Karl, from Proto-Germanic *karilaz (“free man”); compare the English word churl and the German Kerl. In reference to the Ecuadorian island, a clipping of the original name King Charles's Island, granted in honor of Charles II of England.
More words from French, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تْشَارْلْز, شَارْل
- تْشَارْلْز (tšārlz)given name
- شَارْل (šārl)given name
Bengali চার্লস
- চার্লস (carloś)given name
Bulgarian Карл, Чарлз
- Карлgiven name
- Чарлз (Čarlz)given name
- Шарл (Šarl)given name
Catalan Carles
- Carlesgiven name
Chinese Mandarin 查理, 查爾斯 /查尔斯
- 查理 (Chálǐ)given name
- 查爾斯 /查尔斯 (Chá'ěrsī)given name
Czech Karel
- Karelgiven name
Danish Karl, Carl
- Karlgiven name
- Carlgiven name
Dutch Karel, Charel
- Karelgiven name
- Charelgiven name
Esperanto Karlo
- Karlogiven name
Estonian Kaarel
- Kaarelgiven name
Finnish Kaarle, Kaarlo
- Kaarlegiven name
- Kaarlogiven name
French Charles
- Charlesgiven name
German Karl
- Karlgiven name
Greek Κάρολος, Τσαρλς
- Κάρολος (Károlos)given name
- Τσαρλς (Tsarls)given name
Hawaiian Kale
- Kalegiven name
Hebrew צ׳ארלס
- צ׳ארלסgiven name
Hindi चार्ल्स
- चार्ल्स (cārls)given name
Hungarian Károly
- Károlygiven name
Icelandic Karl
- Karlgiven name
Irish Séarlas
- Séarlasgiven name
Italian Carlo
- Carlogiven name
Japanese チャールズ シャルル
- チャールズ シャルル (Chāruzu)given name
Korean 찰스
- 찰스 (Chalseu)given name
Latin Carolus
- Carolusgiven name
Latvian Kārlis
- Kārlisgiven name
Lithuanian Karolis
- Karolisgiven name
Māori Tāre
- Tāregiven name
Norwegian Karl
- Karlgiven name
Persian چارلز, شارل
- چارلز (čârlz)given name
- شارل (šârl)given name
Polish Karol
- Karolgiven name
Portuguese Carlos
- Carlosgiven name
Romanian Carol
- Carolgiven name
Russian Карл, Чарльз
- Карлgiven name
- Чарльз (Čarlʹz)given name
- Шарль (Šarlʹ)given name
Scottish Gaelic Teàrlach
- Teàrlachgiven name
Slovak Karol
- Karolgiven name
Spanish Carlos
- Carlosgiven name
Swedish Karl
- Karlgiven name
Ukrainian Карл
- Карлgiven name
Welsh Siarl
- Siarlgiven name
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
Charles. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Charles
“Charles.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Charles. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Charles,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Charles.
Source: Charles on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.