carol

Meaning

Noun

1. (historical) A round dance accompanied by singing.
2. A ballad or song of joy.
3. (specifically) A ballad or song of joy.
4. (obsolete) A small closet or enclosure built against the inner side of a window of a monastery's cloister, to sit in for study.

Verb

1. (historical, intransitive) To participate in a carol (a round dance accompanied by singing).
2. (intransitive) To sing in a joyful manner.
3. (intransitive) To sing carols; especially to sing Christmas carols in a group.
4. (transitive) To praise or celebrate in song.
5. (transitive) To sing (a song) cheerfully.

Synonyms

sing

Christmas carol

warble

anthem

chant

croon

hymn

song

🎶

vocalize

Christmas song

song of praise

sing of

lay

madrigal

noel

pipe

quaver

belt

singing

bay-stall

trill

twitter

vocal

caroll

aria

yodel

caroling

carrel cubical

hymn of praise

yodle

carrel

carrel stall

choral

canto

ritornello

ditty

grass

jõululaul

Translations

Weihnachtslied

villancico

carola

zingen

aria

canción alegre

nadala

lied

🎶

chœur

chant de Noël

carole

zang

κάλαντα

άσμα χαράς

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkæɹəl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: carole

In summary

The noun is derived from Middle English carole (“round dance with singing; group of people dancing and singing in a circle; song by carollers, carol; religious poem or song; circular thing; braid, chain (?); stall for study or writing; writing table”), from Old French carole (“round dance with singing”). The further etymology is uncertain; the following possibilities have been suggested:
* From Old Italian carola, or directly from its etymon Medieval Latin choraula, a variant of choraulēs (“flute player accompanying a chorus dance”), from Ancient Greek χοραυλής (khoraulḗs, “one who accompanies a chorus on the flute”), from χορός (khorós, “choir; dance”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- (“to enclose”) or *ǵʰoros) + αὐλός (aulós, “flute”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewlos (“tube”)).
* From Latin corōlla (“little crown, coronet; small chaplet, garland, or wreath”), from corōna (“chaplet, garland, wreath”) + -la (diminutive suffix). Corōna is borrowed from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē, “type of crown; curved object (door handle, tip of a bow, stern of a ship, etc.)”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”).
Compare chorus, terpsichorean.
Noun sense 3 (“small closet or enclosure”) may refer to the fact that the item encloses or surrounds the person using it.
The verb is derived from Middle English carolen (“to dance and/or sing in a round dance; to sing for (dancers in a round dance); (figurative) to spend time noisily or unprofitably”), from Old French caroler (“to sing”), from carole (noun) (see above) + -er (a variant of -ier (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs)).