Etymograph

English

chill

Chill comes from Middle English chele ‘a chill’, from Old English ċiele ‘cold’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gel-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-1‘to be cold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kaliz1‘cold, coldness’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kali1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ċiele1‘cold’
  5. enm-soumodernchile2
  6. Anglian Old Englishmodernċele2
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chele1‘a chill’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1634chill1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English chill
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English chele
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1634, John Milton, Arcades: “Noisome winds, and blasting vapours chill.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gel-Wiktionary, English chill‘to be cold’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kalizWiktionary, English chill‘cold, coldness’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kaliWiktionary, English chillreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ċieleWiktionary, English chill‘cold’
  5. enm-soumodernchileWiktionary, Middle English chele
  6. Anglian Old EnglishmodernċeleWiktionary, Middle English chele
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cheleWiktionary, English chill‘a chill’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1634chillWiktionary, English chill. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1634, John Milton, Arcades: “Noisome winds, and blasting vapours chill.”

The story

Closely related with Dutch kil.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gel- ‘to be cold’

cold, clean, children, cloud, child, globe, cluster, gel, colt, jelly, clout, clot, gelatin, clough, gelato, glebe, ganglion, clod, globus, klutz, globulin, 48 more

Another origin of chill

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kilēn‘to be cold’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150ċilian‘to be cold’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chillen
  4. Englishtodaychill

Today it means

noun A moderate, but uncomfortable and penetrating coldness.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chill”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English chele. 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 *gel- / chill

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