KERLING

(pl. -ar), f.

1) woman, wife;

2) old woman.

* * *

f. [answering to karl, q. v.], a woman; þessi skal kerling heita því at hón er af karlmanninum komin, Stj. 34.

II. used, like Scot. carline, almost always of an old woman, and only of a common person, not of a lady, see karl; mær heitir fyrst hver, en kerlingar er gamlar eru, Edda 108; gaman þykkir kerlingunni at, móður várri, Nj. 68, Eb. 44; kerling ein gömul, an old woman, 318; kerlingin móðir konungs, Fms. i. 76; þar sem ek ligg einn í húsi ok kerling mín, I myself and my old wife, Grett. 127; körlum ok kerlingum, Gþl. 257; karls dóttir ok kerlingar, Fas. i. 22; karla börn ok kerlinga, Hkr. i. (in a verse); karl og kerling, karl og kerling í garðs horni, see karl; kellingar gamlar, hrumar ok örvasa, Fb. i. 423: in the phrase, fleyta or flytja kerlingar, to ‘float witches,’ to play at ducks and drakes; kerlingar nef, a nickname, Fb. iii; kellinga bani, a nickname, Fms. xi.

COMPDS: kerlingareldr, kerlingareyra, kerlingasaga, kerlingabók, kerlingartönn, kerlingavilla.

II. as a pr. name, Gullþ.; cp. Carolina.

III. naut., like Engl. carling, one of the fore and aft timbers supporting the planks of the deck, Edda (Gl.)