Etymology Dictionary

QUARREL (1),  a dispute, brawl.  (F.,—L.)   It should rather be querrel, but has been assimilated in spelling to the word below.   M.E. querele (with one r), Chaucer, tr. of Boethius, b. iii. pr. 3, l. 1932.—O.F. querele, later querelle, 'a quarrel;' Cot.   (He gives both forms.)—Lat. querela, a complaint.—Lat. queri, to complain, lament.   See Querulous.   Der. quarrel, verb, Romeo, i. 1. 39, 59, &c.; quarrel-er; quarrel-some, As You Like It, v. 4. 85; quarrel-some-ness; quarrel-some, Cymb. iii. 4. 162.  [†]

QUARREL (2),  a square-headed cross-bow bolt.  (F.,—L.)   Obsolete.   In Spenser, F.Q. ii. 24.   M.E. quarel, King Alisaunder, ed. Weber, 1594, 2781.—O.F. quarrel, later quarreau, 'a daimond at cardes, a square tile, a quarrell or boult for a crossebow;' Cot. Mod. F. carreau.—Low Lat. quadrellum, acc. of quadrellus, a quarrel, a square tile.—Lat. quadr-us, square; with dimin. suffix.   See Quadrant.

ADDENDA

QUARREL (1).   Spelt quarel; Caxton, tr. of Reynard, c. 37; ed. Arber, p. 103, l. 7.