Etymology
1. O.E.
ceallian, less common than
clipian; replaced by O.N.
kalla "to cry loudly," from P.Gmc.
*kallojanan, from PIE base
*gal- "to call, scream, shriek" (see calendar). Meaning "to give a name to" is c.1250. Meaning "to visit" (M.E.) was literally "to stand at the door and call;" sense of "a short formal visit" is from 1862;
caller "visitor" is from 1786. Telephone/telegraph sense is from 1889 (hence slang
call girl, c.1900, originally a prostitute dispatched by telephone). Coin-toss sense is from 1801.
Calling "vocation" (1382) traces to I Cor. vii:20. To
call out someone to fight (1823) corresponds to Fr.
provoqueur. To
call it a day is from 1834.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *gels-der.
4. Proto-Indo-European *golsos
5. Proto-Germanic *kalzazder.
6. Proto-Germanic *kalzōną
7. Proto-West Germanic *kalʀōn
8. Old English cealliander.
9. Old English *callian
10. Middle English callen
11. English call
12. From Middle English callen, from Old English ċeallian (“to call, shout”) and Old Norse kalla (“to call; shout; refer to as; name”); both from Proto-Germanic *kalzōną (“to call, shout”), from Proto-Indo-European *golH-so- (“voice, cry”), from *gel(H)- (“to vocalize, call, shout”).
13. Cognates
14. * Scots call, caw, ca (“to call, cry, shout”)
15. * Dutch kallen (“to chat, talk”)
16. * German Low German kallen (“to speak, talk”)
17. * German kallen (“to call”)
18. * Swedish kalla (“to call, refer to, beckon”)
19. * Norwegian kalle (“to call, name”)
20. * Danish kalde (“to call, name”)
21. * Icelandic kalla (“to call, shout, name”)
22. * Welsh galw (“to call, demand”)
23. * Polish głos (“voice”)
24. * Lithuanian gal̃sas (“echo”)
25. * Russian голос (golos, “voice”)
26. * Albanian gjuhë (“language, tongue”). See: Middle English '
callen', Old Norse '
kalla', Proto-Germanic '
*kalzōną', Dutch '
kallen', German, old spelling '
kallen', Swedish '
kalla', Danish '
kalde', Icelandic '
kalla', Welsh '
galw'.
Verbs referencing "call"
Sranan
kari, Norwegian, nynorsk
kalla, Papiamento
kòl, German, old spelling
kallen, Tok Pisin kolim, Cimbrian khallan.