What does carlin mean?
"Carlin" is a dialectal noun of Scottish and Northern English origin meaning an old woman, particularly one imagined as withered, bad-tempered, or witch-like — essentially a synonym for "crone" or "hag." It appears frequently in Scottish ballads, folklore, and older literature, where carlins often play the role of witches, hags, or formidable elderly women, and the word retains a strongly derogatory connotation when applied to a person today. A second, quite different sense belongs to northern English foodways: the carlin pea, a traditional variety of grey maple pea fried in butter and eaten on the fifth Sunday of Lent, still observed in parts of northeast England as "Carlin Sunday." The word derives from Old Norse "kerling" (a woman, especially an old one), built on the root seen in "carl" and its English relative "churl," making it a distant cousin of words for common folk or free peasants. Though now rare in everyday speech, "carlin" survives vividly in regional tradition, folklore collections, and the annual plate of carlin peas, giving it a curious double life as both an insult and a culinary heirloom.
An old woman, especially one regarded as ugly, bad-tempered, or witch-like; a crone or hag.
"The shepherd swore he had seen the old carlin gathering herbs by moonlight at the edge of the moor."
Chiefly Scottish and Northern English; derogatory when applied to a person.
(Northern English dialect) A carlin pea; a variety of grey maple pea boiled or fried and traditionally eaten on Carlin Sunday, the fifth Sunday of Lent.
"Shops in Newcastle still sell bags of carlins in the weeks before Carlin Sunday."
Usually plural ('carlins' or 'carlin peas'); also spelled 'carling' in this sense.
The standard plural simply adds -s. For the pea, the plural form is the usual one, often phrased as 'carlin peas'.
"According to local legend, the carlins were all the starving townsfolk had left during the siege."
Every year on 'Carlin Sunday', parts of northeast England still eat a humble grey pea named after an old-woman word that descends straight from Old Norse — and ultimately from the same root as 'churl'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of carlin
Carlin comes from Middle English and Scots, borrowed from Old Norse "kerling", meaning an old woman or hag, formed from "karl" (man, fellow) with a feminine suffix. The Norse element is cognate with Old English "ceorl", which gave modern English "churl", so the word ultimately shares its root with terms for commoners or freemen of low rank. In Scots and Northern English it developed the senses of old woman, witch, and hag, and by association gave its name to the carlin pea eaten on Carlin Sunday, whose exact naming story is a matter of local legend rather than recorded fact.
Related word forms
How carlin is actually used
The word is dialectal and largely literary or historical outside Scotland and northern England. When applied to a woman it is derogatory, implying age, ugliness, or ill temper, so it should be used with care. The pea-related sense survives mainly in the fixed phrase 'carlin peas' and the observance 'Carlin Sunday' in northeast England.
Easily confused with carlin
'Carling' is chiefly the variant spelling and the name of the traditional pea (and Carlin Sunday), while 'carlin' is more commonly the word for an old woman or witch.
Carlisle is a city in Cumbria, England, unrelated to the dialect word for an old woman despite a similar sound.