Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Carl \Carl\, n. [Icel, karl a male, a man; akin to AS. ceorl,
   OHG. charal, G. kerl fellow. See {Churl}.] [Written also
   {carle}.]
   1. A rude, rustic man; a churl.

            The miller was a stout carl.          --Chaucer.

   2. Large stalks of hemp which bear the seed; -- called also
      {carl hemp}.

   3. pl. A kind of food. See citation, below.

            Caring or carl are gray steeped in water and fried
            the next day in butter or fat. They are eaten on the
            second Sunday before Easter, formerly called Carl
            Sunday.                               --Robinson's
                                                  Whitby
                                                  Glossary
                                                  (1875).