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Carrel
Definitions
- 1 A surname.
- 1 Alternative spelling of carol (“a small closet or enclosure built against the inner side of a window of a monastery's cloister, to sit in for study”). alt-of, alternative, obsolete
"And in every wyndowe iij Pewes or Carrells, where every one of the old Monks had his carrell, severall by himselfe, that, when they had dyned, they dyd resorte to that place of Cloister and there studyed upon there books, every one in his carrell, all the after nonne, unto evensong tyme. […] All there pewes or carrells was all fynely wainscotted and verie close, all but the forepart which had carved wourke that gave light in at ther carrell doures of wainscott. And in every carrell was a deske to lye there bookes on."
- 2 A type of fabric used in the 16th and 17th centuries. obsolete
- 3 Synonym of quarrel (“a square-headed arrow”). obsolete
- 4 small individual study area in a library wordnet
- 5 A partitioned space for reading or studying, often in a library. broadly
"Near-synonym: cubicle (sometimes synonymous)"
Etymology
A variant of carol (“small closet or enclosure”), from Middle English carole (“round dance with singing; group of people dancing and singing in a circle; circular thing; braid, chain (?); stall for study or writing; writing table; etc.”) (possibly referring to the fact that the item encloses or surrounds the person using it): see further at carol.
Probably borrowed from Middle French carrelé (“type of fabric”), probably from carrelé (“having checks”), an adjective use of the past participle of carreler (“to pave; to tile”) (modern French carreler), from carrel + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs). Carrel is a variant of carreau (“square; tile”), from Old French quarel (“square block of stone”), from Vulgar Latin *quadrellus, from Latin quadrus (“square”, adjective), probably from quattuor (“four”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres (“four”)) + -us (suffix forming adjectives).
Possibly a variant of quarrel.
See also for "carrel"
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