An old woman or hag, especially in Scottish English; also spelled 'carline' or 'carle.'
From Old Norse 'kerling' meaning 'old woman,' with Germanic roots. It traveled through Scottish and English dialects and is most common in Northern English and Scottish literature.
Carlin is one of those Scottish words that rarely made it into standard English but shows up constantly in medieval poetry—it's a window into how different regions of Britain developed completely different vocabulary.
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