English
cajole
Cajole comes from French cajoler ‘to flatter, to cajole’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- ‘to swell’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewh₁-1‘to swell’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcajoler1‘to flatter, to cajole’
- Englishearliest quotation 1722cajole1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English cajole
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1722, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders: “Then he Cajol'd vvith his Brother, and perſvvaded him…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewh₁-Wiktionary, English cajole‘to swell’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcajolerWiktionary, English cajole‘to flatter, to cajole’
- Englishearliest quotation 1722cajoleWiktionary, English cajole. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1722, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders: “Then he Cajol'd vvith his Brother, and perſvvaded him…”
The story
Borrowed from French cajoler, probably a blend of Middle French cageoler (‘chatter like a jay’) (from gajole, dialectal diminutive of geai (‘jaybird’)) + Old French gaioler (‘entice into a cage’), which is from Medieval Latin gabiola, from Late Latin caveola (whence English caveola), diminutive of Latin cavea (‘cage, coop, enclosure, stall’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- ‘to swell’
church, jail, cave, kirk, cage, hound, cavity, excavation, cyst, cumulus, gaol, excavate, caul, cavil, 41 more
Today it means
verb To persuade someone to do something which they are reluctant to do, especially by flattery or promises; to coax.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “cajole”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- / cajole