Middle English Dictionary Entry
cǒule n.(1)
Entry Info
| Forms | cǒule n.(1) Also couel, covel, cuvel, cole, cule. |
| Etymology | OE cugle, cūle; also cp. OE cufle & OF cole, coule, cule. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A garment: cloak; (b) the hooded cloak worn by monks, cowl; ~ cloth, cloth for cowls; (c) a nun's cowl; a woman's gown; (d) ?an ecclesiastical vestment, ?cope.
Associated quotations
a
- (c1300) Havelok (LdMisc 108)858 : He..made him a couel of þe sayl.
- (c1300) Havelok (LdMisc 108)964 : He ne hauede nouth to shride Bot a kouel ful unride.
- (c1300) Havelok (LdMisc 108)2904 : Þanne y yede in mi cuuel [rime: sowel].
b
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)17698 : He weorede..ane cule of ane blake claðe [Otho: one blake couele].
- a1225 Wint.Ben.Rule (Cld D.3)111/3 : Sancte Benedihit ȝywð [?read: ȝþyð] munece cule.
- a1250 Ancr.(Nero A.14)5/5 : Unwise..þe weneð þet ordre sitte iþe kurtel oþer iþe kuuele [Recl.: couel].
- c1300 SLeg.Becket (Hrl 2277)p.114 : Monekes abyt was withinne..Bothe couele [Ld: Covele] and stamyn hi fonde next the here.
- c1350(a1333) Shoreham Poems (Add 17376)107/245 : Vnder couele and cope Þe foule prede lyþe.
- (a1387) Trev.Higd.(StJ-C H.1)7.401 : Oon of hem [Cistercian monks] schal have on hym two curtell and a covel [L duas tunicas cum cucullis].
- a1425 *Medulla (Stnh A.1.10)18b/b : Culla: a monkes koule.
- (1428-9) Acc.R.Dur.in Sur.Soc.103709 : 1 coule clath empt. pro d'no Priore.
- ?a1440 Hortus (Brist-U)272 : Cuculla: a monkis kouele.
- (a1460) Bokenham Sts. (Adv Abbotsford B3)11.901 (v.1:p.130) : His femorails were also of hayre hangyng doun to his knees and therabouen a monkis habite, that is to seyn a stamyn and a cowel.
- a1500(a1450) St.Robt.Knares.(Eg 3143)11 : Þase monkes..cled hym in a coule of whytt.
- (a1500) Invent.Westm.in Archaeol.52214 : With a vestry gyrdyll to tukk up hys cole.
- a1550 *Ripley CAlch.(BodeMus 63)53b : These monkes..with threde bare cowilles.
c
- ?c1450 in Aungier Syon Mon.272 : Whan any sustir is dede..they schal clothe the body withe stamen, cowle, and mantel.
- ?c1450 in Aungier Syon Mon.386 : Ther lyenge [in the dormitory] schal be in ther stamens..If any haue desire to lygh in her cowle.
- a1500 Lady Prioress (Hrl 78)p.110 : Madame..I have desyryd many a wyntter Under nethe your comly cowle to have myn intent.
d
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)97 : Cowle, or coope: Capa.
- (c1450) Invent.Catherine in SANHS 7102 : iij cowells ij of them bith of diapur and the one is pleyn clothe.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- c1450 Jacob's W. (Sal 174:Carruthers)30/25 : Lord out of þis fleschly cowle Delyuere sone my sinfull soule.
Note: The editor (p. 25) prefers to identify this word as the rare word coule n.(2), a 'pen' as for animals, hence an enclosure. But it seems more plausibly taken as the more common coule n.(1), 'cowl, cloak, garment'--used fig. The Légende dorée has 'chartre' here, and the Gilte Legende the equivalent 'prison,' so it is possible that 'cowle' began as a mistake for gaiole, vr. jowel 'gaol', despite the imprecise rhyme with soul.