Etymograph

English

caul

Caul comes from Old English cāwl ‘basket’, from Latin cavea ‘hollow, cavity’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- ‘to swell’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewh₁-1‘to swell’disputed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱowh₁ós1uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kawos1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavus1‘hollow’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*caveus1reconstructed
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavea2‘hollow, cavity’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*cavallum2reconstructed
  8. Old Englishc. 450–1150cāwl3‘basket’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500calle3
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1590caul3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin cavea
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English cawl
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English caul
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto VII: “Ne spared they to strip her naked all. /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewh₁-Wiktionary, Latin cavea‘to swell’disputed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱowh₁ósWiktionary, Latin caveauncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kawosWiktionary, Latin caveareconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavusWiktionary, Latin cavea‘hollow’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*caveusWiktionary, Latin caveareconstructed
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaveaWiktionary, Old English cawl‘hollow, cavity’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*cavallumWiktionary, Old English cawlreconstructed
  8. Old Englishc. 450–1150cāwlWiktionary, English caul‘basket’
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500calleWiktionary, English caul
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1590caulWiktionary, English caul. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto VII: “Ne spared they to strip her naked all. /…”

The story

Reinforced by Old French cale (‘close-fitting cap’), possibly a borrowing of the Old English term above, or alternatively related to Old French calotte (‘headdress’), from Italian callotta, from Latin calautica (‘type of female headdress which fell down over the shoulders’), itself of unknown origin.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- ‘to swell’

church, kirk, hound, cyst, cumulus, cajole, 37 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱowh₁ós

cavernous, 12 more

through Proto-Italic *kawos

cavern, concave, 13 more

through Latin cavus ‘hollow’

cave, cavity, excavation, excavate, cavil, 15 more

through Latin *caveus

jailer, 3 more

through Latin cavea ‘hollow, cavity’

jail, cage, gaol, 4 more

Today it means

noun A style of close-fitting circular cap worn by women in the sixteenth century and later, often made of linen.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “caul”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin cavea, Old English cawl. 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- / caul

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