English
carr
Carr comes from Middle English kerr.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English carr
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2007, Kevin Leahy, The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Lindsey: “The marsh lands or ‘carrs’ that covered the low-lying…”.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kerrWiktionary, English carr
- Englishearliest quotation 2007carrWiktionary, English carr. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2007, Kevin Leahy, The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Lindsey: “The marsh lands or ‘carrs’ that covered the low-lying…”
The story
From Middle English kerr and Middle English carr meaning meadow, field or grassland of a low lying variety; possibly related to Old Norse kjarr.
Every English word from Middle English kerr
Another origin of carr
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂er-‘hard’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Cumbricmodern*carreg‘stone’uncertain
- Old Englishc. 450–1150carr‘stone, rock’
- Englishtodaycarr
From Northumbrian Old English carr; possibly adopted from a Cumbric *carreg, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂er- (‘hard’).
Today it means
noun Any marsh; marshy ground, swampland.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “carr”. 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 / Middle English kerr / carr