Etymograph

English

droll

Droll comes from French drôle ‘comical, odd, funny’, from Middle French drolle ‘a merry fellow, pleasant rascal’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *truzlą ‘a supernatural being’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*truzlą1‘a supernatural being’reconstructed
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350troll1‘a supernatural being, often evil’
  3. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500drol1‘fat little man, goblin’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400drolle1‘one who lives luxuriously’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600drolle1‘a merry fellow, pleasant rascal’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentdrôle1‘comical, odd, funny’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1751droll1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English droll
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […]: “The lieutenant was a droll in his way, Peregrine…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*truzląWiktionary, English droll‘a supernatural being’reconstructed
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350trollWiktionary, English droll‘a supernatural being, often evil’
  3. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500drolWiktionary, English droll‘fat little man, goblin’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400drolleWiktionary, English droll‘one who lives luxuriously’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600drolleWiktionary, English droll‘a merry fellow, pleasant rascal’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentdrôleWiktionary, English droll‘comical, odd, funny’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1751drollWiktionary, English droll. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […]: “The lieutenant was a droll in his way, Peregrine…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dr- ‘to run’

treading, 1 more

through Proto-Germanic *trudaną ‘to tread, step on’

tread, trine, 2 more

through Old Norse troll ‘a supernatural being, often evil’

troll, trow, drow, 2 more

Today it means

adj Oddly humorous; whimsical, amusing in a quaint way; waggish.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “droll”. 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-Germanic *truzlą / droll

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