Forms: α. 1 ceafl, (? ceáfl), 3 cheafl, chefl, chæfl, (? chouel), 3–4 chauel, chavel, cheuel, chevel, 4 chawl, chaul, 4–5 chavyl(l, 4–7 chaule, 5 chawylle, 6 chall(e, 5–7 chawle; 9 dial. chole. β. 6 ioule, 7 jowle, joll, 9 jole, jowl. [OE. ceafl (? ceáfl), corresp. to OS. *kaƀal (only in dat. pl. kaflun), mod.Flem. kavel, Du. kevel gum; cf. MHG. kivel, Ger. dial. kiefel, kiffel = kiefe, kiefer jaw, chap; a deriv. of an ablaut stem kef-, kaf-, whence also ON. kjaptr (Sw. käft, Sc. CHAFT, q.v.). The OE. ceafl regularly gave ME. chavel, whence chauel, chawl. The later jowle, jowl, joul, joll, jole, is not a regular development; even with change of ch to j, chawl would have given jawl. But these forms coincide with the j forms in JOWL2 and 3, and they first appear late in the 16th c., contemporaneously with those of JOWL2, from cholle, chowle. From that time onward the three words have run together in form, although in this word ch forms have come down dialectally to the present day.
The origin of the j, first in JOWL sb.3, and then in JOWL sb.1 and 2, is at present unaccounted for; there is no OF. or other Romanic word to the influence of which it can plausibly be referred. This, with the obscurity which attaches to the origin of JOWL sb.2 and JOWL sb.3, and the fact that all are in recent use levelled under the form jowl, makes the group a very puzzling one.]
1. A jawbone, a ‘chaft’; a jaw; esp. the under jaw; pl. Jaws.
α. a. 1000. Whale, 59, in Exeter Bk. Oð þæt se wida ceafl ʓefylled byð.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., I. 572. Ða leon … ðærrihte mid grædiʓum ceaflum hi ealle totæron.
c. 1205. Lay., 6507. Þat deor to-dede his chæfles [c. 1275 vndude his choules (? cheules)]. Ibid., 26056. Arður … þen chin him of-swipte mid alle þan cheuele.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 513. Ðis cete ðanne hise chaueles lukeð, Ðise fisses alle in sukeð.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 7510 (Cott.). Þair chauelis [Gött. chaulis; Trin. chaules] cleue in twa.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. II. 169. Mannis soul mut have two chauelis, boþe þe over and þe neþere, and þes moten eete Cristis bodi. Ibid., 170. Þe over chawl.
1483. Cath. Angl., 60/2. A Chawylle (Chavylle; vbi A chafte).
1489. Marg. Paston, in P. Lett., III. 349. My lord … had qwestyond John a Lowe of this fych … and he answerd, as for the nedyr chavyll therof, he had put it in sewrte.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 75. The .ix. propertyes of an oxe…. The fyfte [is] to be wyde betwene the challes.
1601. Holland, Pliny, II. 326. If one take a tooth out of one of the chawles of a dead horse, it will ease his owne that aketh.
1614. Markham, Cheap Husb., I. i. 4. Let your hunting horse haue a large leane head, wide nostrils, open chauld, a big weasand. Ibid. (1617), Caval., I. 28. His tusks worne close to his chaule.
[1861. E. Waugh, Birtle Carter’s T., 23. Are yo noan flayed o’ throwin’ yo’re choles off th’ hinges?]
β. 1598. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. i. IV. Handie-Crafts, 410. [Of a horse] a lean bare bonny face, Thin joule, and head.
1658. Sir T. Browne, Gard. Cyrus, iii. That prominent jowle of the Spermaceti whale.
1699. Farquhar, Love & Bottle, III. i. It has made my Jolls rhime in my head.
1808. J. Barlow, Columb., I. 73. The Dragon dips his fiery-foaming jole.
1828. Scott, Jrnl., 2 Feb. My portrait is like, but I think too broad about the jowls.
1892. Besant, Ivory Gate (1893), 268. His mouth was too large and his jowl too heavy.
b. transf. A toothed projection from the front of a cart, used for reaping the ears of corn (an ancient reaping machine).
c. 1420. Pallad. on Husb., VII. 34. A squared carre on whelis too they make … His chaule aforn, that shal ete vp the whete, Is not right high … That iowe is toothed thicke as the mesure Of eres wol not passe hem vpward bende.
† 2. Idle or malicious talk; = JAW sb.1 6. To lead chawle, to give mouth. Obs.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 72. Þet heo [our thoughts] … ne uallen aduneward, & to uleoten ȝeond te world, ase deð muchel cheafle. Ibid., 76. Of the worldes maðelunge, & of hire chefle.
c. 1315. Shoreham, 150. That other reyson was for the devel, That he schal to mys-wende hys chevel.
1589. R. Robinson, Gold. Mirr. (Chetham Soc.), 346. And cald vpon the houndes that were of choyce, Who leade no chawle, the game they found so warme.
3. The cheek, a cheek. (In late use often blending with JOWL sb.2)
1668. Wilkins, Real Char., II. vii. 177. Cheek, Jole.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 32, ¶ 2. If his Sides are as compact as his Joles, he need not disguise himself to make one of us. Ibid. (1713), Guard., No. 42, ¶ 3. The merit of his wit was founded upon the shaking of a fat paunch, and the tossing up of a pair of rosy jowls.
1885. J. L. Robertson, White Angel, etc. 15. He has such a good crop of hair on his jowls.
4. Here perhaps belongs the phrase Cheek by jowl, in earlier usage cheek by cheek: see CHEEK sb. 5.
In this the j form is known from 1577, which is somewhat earlier than it is known in sense 1 above. The 17th-c. variants cheek by chole, chowl, agree in form better with JOWL sb.2 or 3. But it is probable that, by the time the phrase came into use, all three sbs. were already felt as one. The following examples supplement those under CHEEK.
1577. Hanmer, Anc. Eccl. Hist., VIII. xxv. 165. Cheeke by iole with the Emperour.
1589. Hay any Work (1880), 46. That maidenly Doctor, (who sits cheek by ioll with you).
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., III. ii. 338. Follow? Nay, Ile goe with thee cheeke by iowle.
1660. S. Fisher, Rusticks Alarm, Wks. (1679), 336. Howbeit they may … set up their meer Transcriptions, so as to make them sit cheek by chole with the first Hand-writings.
1678. Trans. Crt. Spain, 172. There to find Father Nitard cheek to jowl with me.
1818. Scott, Rob Roy, xiv. In puir auld Scotland’s Parliament they a’ sate thegither, cheek by choul.
1820. W. Irving, Sketch Bk., II. 146. The dragon and the grass-hopper actually lie, cheek by jole.
1880. Browning, Dram. Idyls, II. Doctor — 159. Old and young, rich and poor—crowd cheek by jowl.
5. Comb., as † chawle-bone, a jawbone.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, I. xix. (MS. Bodl.), 78/2. Off an Asse cauhte a chaule bon, And a thousand he slouh off hem anon.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 70/2. Chavylbone, or chawlbone, mandibula.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 86. Betwene his chall bones.
