carol means A round dance accompanied by singing.
carol is pronounced /ˈkæɹəl/.
Why “carol” is a great word
A traditional song of joy, especially one sung at Christmas, or the act of singing such songs. From Middle English *carole*, from Old French *carole* ("round dance with singing"), likely from Medieval Latin *choraula* ("flute player for a chorus dance"), from Ancient Greek χοραυλής (*khoraulḗs*), from χορός (*khoros*, "chorus, dance") + αὐλός (*aulos*, "flute"). Unlike a "hymn," which is a formal song of praise addressed to a deity, or a "ballad," which narrates a story, a carol is a communal effusion of seasonal celebration. It is the sound of voices unspooling into a frosty night from a lit doorway, the syncopated rhythm of gloved hands clapping, the ancient memory of flute and footfall merged into one motion—the human voice as hearth-fire, forging warmth from the dark, note by shared note.
Etymology
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”) + αὐλός (aulós, “flute”).
* From Latin corōlla (“little crown, coronet; small chaplet, garland, or wreath”), from corōna (“chaplet, garlan
noun
- A round dance accompanied by singing.“The carol, a combination of dance, music and song performed by a group, has a parallel history [to the mystery plays]. Although it existed earlier as a secular form – the round dance of which St Hugh's biographer was reminded by the shafts at Lincoln – it seems to have been turned to pious uses from about 1350.”
- A ballad or song of joy.“The humane mortals want their winter heere / No night is now with hymme or carroll bleſt; / Therefore the Moone (the gouerneſſe of floods) / Pale in her anger, waſhes all the aire; / That Rheumaticke diſeaſes do abound.”
- A ballad or song of joy.; A (usually traditional) religious or secular song sung at Christmastime.“They sang a Christmas carol.”
- A small closet or enclosure built against the inner side of a window of a monastery's cloister, to sit in for study.“Carol, or Carrel. A little pew, or closet, in a cloister, to sit and read in. They were common in greater monasteries, as Duram, Gloucester, Kirkham in Yorkshire, &c.; and had their name from the carols, or sentences inscribed on the walls about them, which often were couplets in rhyme. [Carola, Low Latin.]”
verb
- To participate in a carol (a round dance accompanied by singing).“You might see the townsmen and the ladies carolling in the squares, squires and serjans and young girls singing; there is no street and no house to be found there that is not adorned with hangings of gold and silk.”
- To sing in a joyful manner.“And when the ſtubborne ſtroke of ſtronger ſtounds, / Has ſomewhat ſlackt the tenor of thy ſtring; / Of loue and luſtihead tho maiſt thou ſing, / And carroll lowde, and leade the Millers rounde, [...]”
- To sing carols; especially to sing Christmas carols in a group.“Christmas morning was welcomed by services in some churches. Everyone in the Bingham house, along with other church members, went carolling at five o'clock in the morning, which culminated in the Christmas message at the church, delivered by the pastor. Everyone's heart was blessed.”
- To praise or celebrate in song.“[S]till ſhe [Sabrina, a water nymph] retaines / Her maiden gentleneſſe, and oft at eve / Viſits the heards along the twilight meadows, / Helping all urchin blaſts, and ill lucke ſignes, / That the ſhrewd medling elfe delights to make, / Which ſhe with precious viol'd liquors heales; / For which the ſhepheards at their feſtivalls / Carroll her goodneſſe lowd in ruſticke layes, / And throw ſweet gar”
- To sing (a song) cheerfully.“Now Sol hath ſcap't the Oxes horn, / The Ram, the winds, the ſtormes, and harms; / The loving Twins by Leda born, / Will entertain him in their arms. / And Flora ſmiles to feel thoſe beams / Which whilom were with-drawn ſo long. / The pratling birds, the purling ſtreams / Do carroll forth her wedding ſong.”
name
- A female given name from the Germanic languages, popular in the middle of the 20th century.“Carol is fifteen years old and I'm sixteen. Her name is really Caroline, but she hates it and wants to be called Carol - it's so much prettier.”
- A male given name from the Germanic languages.“This table shows the curious fact that little Prince Carol of Roumania (who is at once the great-grandson and the third cousin of Queen Victoria) has a better hereditary right to the British Throne than Her Majesty.”
Words closest in meaning
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