kelln.
/kɛl/ Obsolete exc. dialect.figurative.1823 J. Galt Ringan Gilhaize I. xxv. 271 She was soon scrapit of all the scurf and kell of her abominations.
1.
a. A woman's hair-net, cap, or head-dress: = caul n.1 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > close-fitting > caul
caula1327
kella1400
cale1588
a1400 Pistel of Swete Susan (MS. A) 128 By a wynliche welle Susan cast of hir kelle.
?c1450 Pistel of Swete Susan (Pierpont Morgan) 158 Þan had sche kast of hire kell and hire courcheffe.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vii. xiv. 82 The hair was of this damysell Knyt wyth a buttoune in a goldin kell.
1603 Philotus xxii. sig. Bv Than may ȝe haue baith Quaiffis and Kellis..All for ȝour weiring and not ellis.
?a1700 Childe Maurice v, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1886) II. iv. lxxxiii. 264/2 As many times As knotts beene knitt on a kell.
1817 Lady Margaret in Whitelaw Bk. Scot. Ball. (1875) 55/2 To braid her hair she didna care Nor sett her golden kell.
b. dialect. The back part of a woman's cap.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > parts of headgear > [noun] > back
caul1756
kell1871
1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xlvi. 319 A mutch that my wife hed ance wi' a byous muckle squar' kell.
2. A long cloak or garment; a shroud.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > preparation or treatment of corpse > [noun] > laying or wrapping in shroud > shroud
sheetc1000
sendala1300
sudaryc1380
winding-clotha1400
winding-sheetc1420
kellc1425
sindonc1500
shroud1570
shrouding sheet1576
cerement1604
church cloth1639
socking-sheet1691
death cloth1699
sow1763
windinga1825
burial-cloth1876
negligée1927
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > loose clothing > cloak, mantle, or cape > types of > long
kellc1425
pluvial1621
Joseph1659
pelisse1755
sarafan1799
pelisse robe1828
capote1854
c1425 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 656/15 Hec caracalla, kelle. [Cf. 571/34 Caracalla, a sclavayn or a cope.]
?a1800 Gay Goss-Hawk xxx, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1886) II. iv. xcvi E. 364/2 Then up and gat her seven sisters, And sewed to her a kell, And every steek that they pat in Sewd to a siller bell.
3.
a. Gossamer threads forming a kind of film on grass. Cf. caul n.1 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > member of (spider) > web > threads floating in air or spread on grass
gossamerc1325
kell?1523
spittle of the sun1568
air thread1753
summer goosea1800
flake1817
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxiiiiv Also there wyll be many kelles vpon the grase, and that causeth the myldewe.
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie xxix. 76 Many tymes the cobwebbes fall from the skye, and are not suche as Spyders make, but a kind of kell.
1614 G. Markham Cheape & Good Husb. (1623) i. iii. i. 107 Those webs, kels, and flakes..lying on the earth, and a sheep licking them vp, do breed rottennesse.
1663 J. Beale Let. 9 Nov. in R. Boyle Wks. (1772) VI. 357 Those kells, which like cobwebs do sometimes cover the grounds.
b. The web or cocoon of a spinning caterpillar.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Lepidoptera or butterflies and moths > [noun] > larva > that spins cocoon > cocoon
kell1612
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Lepidoptera or butterflies and moths > [noun] > larva > that spins cocoon > filmy textures spun by
webOE
kell1612
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion iii. 42 Trees..With Caterpillers kells, and duskie cobwebs hong.
1631 B. Jonson Divell is Asse ii. vi. 79 in Wks. II Loue..could..Bury himselfe in euery Silke-wormes kell.
4. Anatomy. An investing membrane or film: = caul n.1 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily substance > membrane > [noun]
rimeOE
hameOE
skina1398
caul1398
shrine1398
tunicle1398
panniclea1400
pelliculea1400
slougha1400
membrane?a1425
pellicle?a1425
pellet?1440
enfolder1545
kell1545
involucre1578
skinlet1598
striffena1612
swathe1615
veil1639
tunic1661
swath-band1668
involucruma1676
wall1682
panniculus1702
theca1807
1545 T. Raynald in tr. E. Roesslin Byrth of Mankynde i. sig. D.vv The flesshye skyn..is composyd of moore Flesshynesse, then any other kell or skyn in all the boody.
1630 M. Drayton Noahs Floud in Muses Elizium 102 (margin) The Aspick hath a kell of skin which couereth his teeth vntill it be angry.
1766 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 120/1 She..has a speck or kell over one eye.
5. spec.
a. The fatty membrane investing the intestines; the omentum: = caul n.1 5a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > internal organs > cavities occupied by internal organs > [noun] > abdomen > membranes of
neteOE
caul1382
siphac1398
zirbusa1400
womb cloutc1400
mesentery?a1425
omentum?a1425
peritoneum?a1425
paunch clout1440
epiploön?1541
mesenterium?1541
mesaraeum1543
rim1565
kell1578
rind1585
belly-piece1591
coif1597
cell1607
reticulum1615
mesocolon1684
mesogaster1807
mesocaecum1835
ruffle1846
mesogastrium1848
mid-gut1875
mesovarium1882
mesocyst1890
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man v. f. 67 We call one part of the Kell the Anteriour or superiour Membran, and the other the inferiour or posteriour.
1622 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Phylaster (new ed.) v. 71 Ile haue him cut to the kell, then downe the seames.
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 5th Bk. Wks. xvii The inner thin Kell wherewith the Intrails are cover'd.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Kell, the omentum or caul.
1877 in E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs.
b. The amnion enclosing the fœtus, and sometimes enveloping the head at birth: = caul n.1 5b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > embryo or fetus > membranes, etc., of embryo or fetus > [noun] > membranes enclosing
houve1530
kell1530
cotyledon1540
chorion1545
coif1545
hoop-caul1545
shirt1545
caul1547
sillyhow1574
biggin1611
guard1611
allantoides1615
allantois1615
allantoid1633
amnios1657
amnion1667
heam1681
vitta1693
indusium1706
silly-hood1836
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 235/2 Kell in a womans belly, taye.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. iii. iii. 688 A silly iealous fellowe,..seeing his child new borne included in a kell, thought sure a Franciscan..was the father of it, it was so like a Friers Cowle.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) (at cited word) Brand mentions several advertisements in which these kells or cauls were announced for sale.
1883 in E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (at cited word) Oor ohd mare, she foal'd e' th' neet, an' th' foal could n't braak th' kell, so it was droonded.
Compounds
In sense 1, as kell-knitter, kell-maker, kell-wise.
ΚΠ
a1400–50 Alexander 3300 Þis coppis opon kell-wyse knytt in þe woȝes.
14.. in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 692/35 Hec reciaria, a kelmaker.
1483 Cath. Angl. 201/2 A kelle knytter, reticularius, reticularia.
Derivatives
kelled adj. (also †keld) webbed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > body and limbs > [adjective] > of feet > having feet > web-footed > webbed
kelled1630
webbed1664
webby1686
palmated1766
palmate1826
1630 M. Drayton Noahs Floud in Muses Elizium 98 The Otter..feeds on Fish, which..He with his keld feet, and keene teeth doth kill.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1901; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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