Farl
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A quarter of a thin oatmeal or flour cake. obsolete
- 2 Any such cake or bread, now especially an Irish speciality such as a soda farl or potato farl.
- 1 Obsolete form of furl. alt-of, obsolete
"1647, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, The Sea Voyage, Act 1, Scene 1, First Beaumont and Fletcher folio, 1854, Alexander Dyce (editor), The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher: The Text Formed from a New Collation of the Early Editions, Volume 2, page 416, Down with the mainmast ! lay her at hull ! Farl up all her linens, and let her ride it out !"
Example
More examples"1647, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, The Sea Voyage, Act 1, Scene 1, First Beaumont and Fletcher folio, 1854, Alexander Dyce (editor), The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher: The Text Formed from a New Collation of the Early Editions, Volume 2, page 416, Down with the mainmast ! lay her at hull ! Farl up all her linens, and let her ride it out !"
Etymology
Contraction of fardel, probably with some influence from the Irish fearann meaning a fourth, especially of land or oatcakes. In this specific sense, fearann itself may be a possible cognate from a Norse or Old English root.
Related phrases
More for "farl"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.