Etymology Dictionary

KEEL (1),  the bottom of a ship.  (E. or Scand.)   M. E. kele (rare).   'The schippe [Noah's ark] was...thritty cubite high from the cule to the hacches vnder the cabans;' i.e. from the bottom to the hatches; where [instead of cule = bottom, from F. cul ] another reading is kele = keel; Trevisa, tr. of Higden, ii. 233.   The etymology is due to a confusion between two words.   1. The form answers to A. S. ceól, a ship, cognate with Icel. kjóll, O. H. G. cheol, a ship, barge.   These are from a Teutonic base KEULA, a ship (Fick, iii. 46), prob. connected with Gk. γαῦλος, a round-built Phœnician merchant vessel, γαυλός, a round vessel, milk-pail, bucket, bee-hive, Skt. gola, a ball.   2. But the sense is that of Icel. kjölr, Dan. kjöl, Swed. köl, the keel of a ship; answering to a Teutonic base KELA; Fick, iii. 47.   The G. and Du. kiel, a keel, seem to belong to the latter base.   ¶ For the change of A. S. eó to mod. E. ee, cf. wheel from A. S. hweól.   Der. keel-ed, keel-age; also keel-son, q.v.   Also keel-haul, from O. Du. kielhaalen (mod. Du. kielhalen); 'Kielhaalen, to careen a ship; eenen matroos kielhaalen, to pull a mariner up from under the keel, a seaman's punishment;' Sewel.   See Haul.

KEEL (2),  to cool.  (E.)   'While greasy Joan dothh keel the pot;' L. L. L. v. 2. 930.   The proper sense is not to scum to pot (though it may sometimes be so used) but to keep it from boiling over by stirring it round and round; orig. merely to cool it or keep it cool.   'Keel, to keep the pot from boiling over;' A Tour to the Caves, 1781; see Eng. Dial. Soc. Gloss. B. I.   'Faith, Doricus, thy brain boils; keel it, keel it, or all the fat's in the fire;' Marston, What You Will, 1607; in Anc. Drama, ii. 199 (Nares).   M. E. kelen, to cool, once a common word; see Ormulum, 19584; O. Eng. Homilies, i. 141; Prompt. Parv., p. 270; Court of Love, 775; Gower, C. A. ii. 360; &c. (Stratmann).—A. S. célan, to cool.—A. S. cól, cool; see Cool.   ¶ Note the regular change from ó to é, as in fót, foot, pl. fét, feet; so also bleed from blood, feed from food, &c.