pucel

pucel (plural pucels)

1. Obsolete form of pucelle.

• “pucel”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• culpe, cupel, pecul

Diminutive of pūca (“devil, demon”), from Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“goblin, imp”), equivalent to pūca +‎ -el. Cognate with Danish pokker (“devil, deuce”). More at puck.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpuː.kel/

pūcel m

1. a goblin, demon, a mischievous spirit

Strong a-stem:

• pūca

• Middle English: *poukel (found in names and compounds)
  • English: puckle

Masculine form derived from the feminine pucele.

pucel oblique singular, m (oblique plural puceaus or puceax or puciaus or puciax or pucels, nominative singular puceaus or puceax or puciaus or puciax or pucels, nominative plural pucel)

1. young, unmarried man
2. (by extension) virgin (male person who has never had sexual relations)

• French: puceau