carol

Etymology 1

of Gaudete (Latin for “rejoice”), a sacred Christmas carol published in Piae Cantiones (1582)]] From Middle English carole, from Old French carole, from Old Italian carola, from Medieval Latin choraula, a variant of choraulēs (“flute player accompanying a chorus dance”), from Ancient Greek χοραυλής (khoraulḗs, “one who accompanies a chorus on the flute”), from χορός (khorós, “choir; dance”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- (“to enclose”) or *ǵʰoros) + αὐλός (aulós, “flute”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewlos (“tube”)). Compare chorus, terpsichorean.

noun

1. (historical) A round dance accompanied by singing.
   The carol, a combination of dance, music and song performed by a group, has a parallel history [to the mystery plays]. Although it existed earlier as a secular form – the round dance of which St Hugh's biographer was reminded by the shafts at Lincoln – it seems to have been turned to pious uses from about 1350. 2010, Stephen Medcalf, “On Reading Books from a Half-alien Culture”, in Brian Cummings, Gabriel Josipovici, editors, The Spirit of England: Selected Essays of Stephen Medcalf, Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Legenda, Modern Humanities Research Association and Routledge, page 87
2. A ballad or song of joy.
   1. (specifically) A (usually traditional) religious or secular song sung at Christmastime.
      They sang a Christmas carol.
      Carolle: f[eminine]. A kind of daunce wherein many daunce together; alſo, a Carroll, or Chriſtmas ſong. 1632, Randle Cotgrave, Robert Sherwood, “Carolle”, in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues. Compiled by Randle Cotgrave. Wherevnto is also Annexed a Most Copious Dictionarie, of the English Set before the French. By R[obert] S[herwood,] L[ondoner], London: Printed by Adam Islip, →OCLC
      I heard the bells on Christmas Day / Their old, familiar carols play, / And wild and sweet / The words repeat / Of peace on earth, good-will to men! 25 December 1863, Henry W[adsworth] Longfellow, “Christmas Bells”, in J[ohn] T[ownsend] Trowbridge, Gail Hamilton [pseudonym; Mary Abigail Dodge], Lucy Larcom, editors, Our Young Folks. An Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls, volume I, number II, Boston, Mass.: Ticknow and Fields, 124 Tremont Street, published February 1865, →OCLC, page 123
      Chestnuts roasting on an open fire / Jack Frost nipping at your nose / Yuletide carols being sung by a choir / And folks dressed up like Eskimos 1945, “The Christmas Song: Merry Christmas to You: S.A.T.B. with Incidental Soprano Solos and Piano Accompaniment”, Mel Tormé, Bob Wells (lyrics), Mel Tormé (music), New York, N.Y.: E. H. Morris, published 1946, →OCLC
      More than two decades after its original release, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" continues to hit new heights. The 1994 carol rises 22-18 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Jan. 2, 2016), scoring its best rank ever on the chart. 21 December 2015, Gary Trust, “Carey’s 1994 Classic Reaches a New Peak (No. 18) while Continuing atop the Holiday 100 Chart”, in Billboard, archived from the original on 2017-11-20

verb

1. (intransitive, historical) To participate in a carol (a round dance accompanied by singing).
   You might see the townsmen and the ladies carolling in the squares, squires and serjans and young girls singing; there is no street and no house to be found there that is not adorned with hangings of gold and silk. 1990, Christopher Page, “Jeunesse and the Courtly Song Repertory”, in The Owl and the Nightingale: Musical Life and Ideas in France 1100–1300, 1st U.S. edition, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Calif.: University of California Press, page 91
2. (intransitive) To sing in a joyful manner.
   As the lark with vary'd tune, / Carrols to the evening loud; / Mark the mild reſplendent moon, / Breaking through a parted cloud! 1766 April, “Day: A Pastoral. From Cunningham’s Poems. [Evening.]”, in The London Magazine. Or, Gentleman’s Monthly Intelligencer, volume XXXV, London: Printed for R. Baldwin at the Rose, in Pater-noster Row, →OCLC, page 207, column 2
   "Sure enough, it is an easy master I have got," said the Prince to himself, as he walked up and down the room, and carolled and sang, for he thought there was plenty of time to clean out the stable. 1859, [[w:Peter Christen Asbjørnsen|[Peter Christen Asbjørnsen]]; Jørgen Engebretsen Moe], “The Mastermaid”, in George Webbe Dasent, transl., Popular Tales from the Norse … With an Introductory Essay on the Origin and Diffusion of Popular Tales, 2nd enlarged edition, Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, →OCLC, pages 81–82
   Soon Kartar Singh obliged with a song: / "A bird sat high on a banyan tree, / Carolling night and carolling day, / And on the heads of the passers-by …" 1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC; republished in The Malayan Trilogy: Time for a Tiger; The Enemy in the Blanket; Beds in the East (Vintage Burgess), London: Vintage Books, 2000, page 263
   'Yoo-hoo!' he caroled. 'Goody time!' 1981, Julian May, The Many-colored Land, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin; republished as The Many-coloured Land, London: Tor Books, 2013, page 389
3. (intransitive) To sing carols; especially to sing Christmas carols in a group.
   Christmas morning was welcomed by services in some churches. Everyone in the Bingham house, along with other church members, went carolling at five o'clock in the morning, which culminated in the Christmas message at the church, delivered by the pastor. Everyone's heart was blessed. 2012, Patrena Dawkins-Anderson, chapter 8, in Chongtu: Conflict, Pittsburgh, Pa.: Red Lead Press, page 48
   Gather up the neighbor kids and go caroling around the neighborhood … just for the joy of singing together! 2014, Christmas at Grandma’s, Columbus, Oh.: Gooseberry Patch, page 80
4. (transitive) To praise or celebrate in song.
5. (transitive) To sing (a song) cheerfully.
   Now Sol hath ſcap't the Oxes horn, / The Ram, the winds, the ſtormes, and harms; / The loving Twins by Leda born, / Will entertain him in their arms. / And Flora ſmiles to feel thoſe beams / Which whilom were with-drawn ſo long. / The pratling birds, the purling ſtreams / Do carroll forth her wedding ſong. 1656, T. S., “The Third Month Called May hath xxxj Dayes”, in An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord 1656. Being First after Leap Year; and from the Creation 5588. … Calculated for the Longitude of 315 gr: and 42 gr: 30 min. of N. Lat: and may Generally Serve for the Most Part of New England, Cambridge, Mass.: Printed by Samuel Green, →OCLC
   Why do the Delian Palms incline their Boughs, / Self-mov'd; and hov'ring Swans, their Throats releas'd / From native Silence, carol Sounds harmonious? 1719, Mat[thew] Prior, “The Second Hymn of Callimachus to Apollo”, in Poems on Several Occasions, Dublin: Printed for J. Hyde in Dame-street, R. Gunne in Caple-street, R. Owen in Skinner-row, and E. Dobson in Castle-street, booksellers, →OCLC, page 222
   … Ye villagers rejoice; / And ye who cultivate the fertile glebe / Carrol the gladſome ſong. For you the plain / Shall wave with wheaten harveſts; and the gale / From blooming bean-fields ſhall diffuſe perfume. 1774, William Richardson, “Runny Mead”, in Poems, Chiefly Rural, Glasgow: Printed by Robert & Andrew Foulis, printers to the University, →OCLC, page 64

Etymology 2

See carrel.

noun

1. (architecture) Alternative form of carrel (“small closet or enclosure built against a window on the inner side, to sit in for study”).
   Carol, or Carrel. A little pew, or closet, in a cloister, to sit and read in. They were common in greater monasteries, as Duram, Gloucester, Kirkham in Yorkshire, &c.; and had their name from the carols, or sentences inscribed on the walls about them, which often were couplets in rhyme. [Carola, Low Latin.]] [1822, Edward James Willson, comp., “Carol, or Carrel”, in A Glossary of Technical Terms, Descriptive of Gothic Architecture: Collected from Official Records, Passages in the Works of Poets, Historians, &c. of a Date Contemporay with that Style: And Collated with the Elucidations and Notes of Various Commentators, Glossarists, and Modern Editors. To Accompany the Specimens of Gothic Architecture, by A[gustus] Pugin, – Architect, 3rd edition, London: Printed for J[ohn] Taylor, Architectural Library, 59, High Holborn; J. Britton, Burton Street; and A. Pugin, 34, Store Street, →OCLC, pages 2–3
   An exquisite south-east door is preserved; it is round-headed, of four orders, with a foliated label. A canopied carol or monk's seat, a Pointed crocketed arch within a square case, is seen beside it, succeeded on the south wall by an arcade of trefoiled arches with toothed mouldings. 1860, Mackenzie Walcott, “[The Abbeys of Scotland.] Melrose”, in The Minsters and Abbey Ruins of the United Kingdom: Their History, Architecture, Monuments, and Traditions; with Notices of the Larger Parish Churches and Collegiate Chapels, London: Edward Stanford, 6, Charing Cross, →OCLC, page 257