Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A song of praise or joy, especially for Christmas.
- noun An old round dance often accompanied by singing.
- intransitive verb To sing in a loud, joyous manner.
- intransitive verb To go from house to house singing Christmas songs.
- intransitive verb To celebrate in or as if in song.
- intransitive verb To sing loudly and joyously.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To sing; warble; sing in joy or festivity.
- To sing joyously.
- To praise or celebrate in song.
- noun A kind of circular dance.
- noun [It is often difficult to tell from the context whether carol is the dance or the song that seems to have been sung as an accompaniment to it; but in Chaucer it usually means simply the dance.]
- noun A song, especially one expressive of joy; often, specifically, a joyous song or ballad in celebration of Christmas.
- noun A ring of leaves or flowers; a garland; a wreath.
- noun In architecture: A small closet or inclosure in which to sit and read. A bay-window.
- noun Also written carrel, carrell, carrall.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To praise or celebrate in song.
- transitive verb To sing, especially with joyful notes.
- noun (Arch.) A small closet or inclosure built against a window on the inner side, to sit in for study. The word was used as late as the 16th century. The term
carrel , of the same has largely superseded its use. - noun obsolete A round dance.
- noun A song of joy, exultation, or mirth; a lay.
- noun A song of praise of devotion.
- noun Joyful music, as of a song.
- intransitive verb To sing; esp. to sing joyfully; to warble.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A round dance accompanied by singing.
- noun A
song of joy. - noun A religious song or
ballad of joy. - verb intransitive To sing in a joyful manner.
- verb intransitive To sing carols, especially Christmas carols in a group.
- verb transitive To praise (someone or something) in or with a song.
- verb transitive To sing (a song) cheerfully.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a joyful song (usually celebrating the birth of Christ)
- verb sing carols
- noun joyful religious song celebrating the birth of Christ
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The word carol comes from the Latin cantare (to sing) and rola (joy).
Christmas Music Joanna Waugh 2008
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The word carol comes from the Latin cantare (to sing) and rola (joy).
Archive 2008-12-01 Joanna Waugh 2008
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The word carol obviously means a song, and a carol is a type of ecclesiastical folk song.
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The word "carol" comes from the Greek "choros," which is a circular dance accompanied by singing, usually to celebrate fertility.
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Digging a bit, it becomes clear that the carol is in fact an Easter song.
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Digging a bit, it becomes clear that the carol is in fact an Easter song.
Connections 2010
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The music to the carol is by George Frederick Handel (1685-1759).
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This Christmas carol is unusual as there is no reference in the lyrics to the nativity.
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Digging a bit, it becomes clear that the carol is in fact an Easter song.
A Different Stripe: 2009
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"The meaning of the Christmas carol is clear: 'Come and Behold Him, Born the King of Angels' really means, 'Come and Behold Him, Born the King of the English' - Bonnie Prince Charlie!" ...
skipvia commented on the word carol
Carol by Chuck Berry
February 8, 2008
qroqqa commented on the word carol
It was high in her when she arrived at Mrs. Hazelton's and caroled to the maid who opened the door, "Well, Dellie, it's been a long time since we've seen each other, hasn't it?"
—Dorothy Parker, 'The Bolt behind the Blue'
November 12, 2008
john commented on the word carol
My mother's name, and a hurricane name retired in 1954.
December 2, 2008