Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “cowl” come from?

Cowl comes from Middle English coule, from Old English cūle, from Old French cuve, from Latin cupa, from Latin cucullus, from Proto-Indo-European keu- and keh₂p-.

cowl (English): A monk's hood that can be pulled forward to cover...

Definitions

  1. A monk's hood that can be pulled forward to cover...

Ancestry of “cowl”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishcoule—
2Old Englishcūle—
3Old Englishcugelehood, cowl
4Ecclesiastical Latincucullamonk's cowl
5Latincucullusa covering for the head, hood, cowl; a conical...
6Proto-Indo-EuropeankuH-l-—
7Proto-Indo-European(s)kewH-to cover, bedeck; cover

Words derived from “cowl”

  • cowled
  • cowlstaff
  • uncowl
  • cowlneck
  • cowlless
  • encowl
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)kewH- →