Word.ws English Dictionary

carline

UK/ˈkɑːlɪn/US/ˈkɑɹlɪn/

carline noun: a woman; also, a hag or witch. Also the alternative form of caroline.

Noun (1)

carline (plural carlines)

  1. (Scotland) A woman; also, a hag or witch.
    • He taks a ſvvirlie, auld moſs-oak, / For ſome black, grouſome Carlin; […]1785 (date written), Robert Burns, “Halloween”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. […], 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793...
    • While honest men slept in their beds, the auld rudas carlines took their pleasure.1902 January, John Buchan, “The Outgoing of the Tide”, in The Watcher by the Threshold, and Other Tales, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1902, →OCLC, page 232

Noun (2)

US/ˈkɑɹˌlaɪn/

carline (plural carlines)

  1. A line of automobiles awaiting access to the same building or similar location.

Noun (3)

carline (plural carlines)

  1. Carline thistle (Carlina spp.).

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Carline

IPA/ˈkɑː(ɹ)lɪn/

Carline

  1. A female given name, variant of Caroline.
    • A blur of motion passed him, and he turned to find Carline standing in the room, a heavy cloak wrapped around her.1982, Raymond Feist, Magician, page 88

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Carline

Carline (plural Carlines)

  1. A surname.

Also used as

carline is also the alternative form of caroline.

carline is also the alternative form of carling.

Synonyms of carline

16 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of carline

Forms of carline

Noun
pluralcarlines
alternative formcarlin
alternative formcarling
Proper noun
pluralCarlines

Origin of carline

From Old Norse karling, feminine of karl (“carl”).

From car + line.

From French carline, from Medieval Latin carlina, probably from cardina, a diminutive of Latin carduus (“thistle”), with influence from Carolus Magnus due to an association with Charlemagne.

Words formed from carline

Phrases with carline

Words that rhyme with carline

Questions about carline

What does carline mean?
Carline means a woman; also, a hag or witch.
What part of speech is carline?
Carline can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce carline?
Carline is pronounced /ˈkɑɹlɪn/ (US).
What is the plural of carline?
The plural of carline is carlines.

Words near carline in the dictionary

  1. carlin
  2. Carlin How
  3. Carlin pea
  4. Carlin peas
  5. Carlinda
  6. carline
  7. carline thistle
  8. carline thistles
  9. carlines
  10. Carlinesque
  11. carling

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: carline (page history and authors); Carline (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “carline.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/carline. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.