orl
.
Searchable Lemmata: orel (OE), orl (OE), orale (MdE).
Alternate Forms: orelu, orlum, orle.
Definitions and Defining Citations:
1(n.) ;
ecclesiastical garment, often specifically a headdress or veil.(ante 900 - ante 1100)
Use: Ecclesiastical Ceremonial: No
Body Parts:
Etymological Evidence:
Speculative, OED suggests that this word is borrowed from post-Classical Latin orale (substantive use of the adjective oralis 'pertaining to the mouth', in the sense 'covering'), referring to veils and ecclesiastical vestments. However such a usage is unattested in insular Latin and not frequent in continental sources. Bosworth-Toller compares Gothic aurali 'napkin' and OHG orul, but these are now normally taken to be borrowings of Latin orarium (q.v.) in Proto-Germanic with dissimilation of the second consonant. It seems most likely, therefore, that this is the Germanic borrowing of Latin orarium in its descended Old English form, with senses influenced by post-conversion knowledge of orarium (see citations at orarium Sense 2).
MdE orale, used specifically as a synonym of the Papal fanon (q.v.), is a modern reborrowing.
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Etym Cog:
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