English
girl
Girl comes from Middle English gerle ‘young person (boy or girl)’.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English girl
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1889, Rudyard Kipling, The Education of Otis Yeere: “"My dear girl, what has he done?" said Mrs.…”.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gerleWiktionary, English girl‘young person’
- Englishearliest quotation 1889girlWiktionary, English girl. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1889, Rudyard Kipling, The Education of Otis Yeere: “"My dear girl, what has he done?" said Mrs.…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with girl, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- ‘less, short’
- card ← carde ← carte ← charta ← χάρτης
- chart ← charte ← charta ← χάρτης ← χᾰρᾰ́σσω
- rocket ← roquette ← ruchetta ← eruca ← ēr
- chronic ← cronike ← chronicus ← χρονικός ← χρόνος
- cartoon ← carton ← cartone ← carta ← carta
- chorus ← χορός ← *kʰorós ← *ǵʰoros
- cartel ← Kartell ← cartello ← charta ← χάρτης
- cartridge ← cartouche ← cartoccio ← charta ← χάρτης
- carton ← cartone ← carta ← charta ← χάρτης
- carte ← charta ← χάρτης ← χᾰρᾰ́σσω
- synchronous ← synchronus ← σύγχρονος ← χρόνος ← *gʰr-ono-
- urchin ← yrchoun ← irechon ← *ērīciōnem ← ērīcius
39 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun A female child.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “girl”. 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 gerle / girl