Other forms: carols, caroling
A carol is a joyful song sung at a religious festival, and in practice that almost always means Christmas. Christmas carols, a carol service, go carol singing.
The carol service is a fixed institution in Britain, and the nine lessons and carols format is broadcast every Christmas Eve. Carol singers go from door to door, traditionally for charity. The verb exists — carolling — and is used almost only in that phrase. Note that Carol is also a name, and that the word originally meant a dance rather than a song, which is why old carols have such strong rhythms.
1nouncarolA joyful religious song, especially at Christmas.
“They sang three carols and nobody knew the second verse.”
2verbsingTo sing carols, especially from door to door.
“The choir went carolling round the village.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
carol is a festive song.
Old French carole meant a ring dance with singing. The dancing dropped away and the singing stayed, which is why a carol is a song with a dance's rhythm still in it — and why so many carols are in triple time.
Proto-Indo-European
*ǵʰer-
Old French
carole — round dance with singing
Middle English
carole — round dance with singing; group of people dancing and singing in a circle; song by carollers, carol; religious poem or song; circular thing; braid, chain (?); stall for study or writing; writing table
English, today
carol
The is derived from Middle English carole (“round dance with singing; group of people dancing and singing in a circle; song by carollers, carol; religious poem or song; circular thing; braid, chain (?); stall for study or writing; writing table”), from Old French carole (“round dance with singing”). The further etymology is uncertain; the following possibilities have been suggested:
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA