Of or relating to ceorls; having the characteristics of a ceorl, such as being common or of low status.
From ceorl with the suffix -ish meaning 'of or like.' This adjective describes qualities associated with the ceorl class in Anglo-Saxon society.
The shift from 'ceorlish' meaning 'of the common people' to 'churlish' meaning 'rude and uncouth' shows how class prejudice gets embedded in language—the ruling class essentially used language to make poor people sound unpleasant!
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