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Origin and history of prowling

prowling(n.)

mid-15c., prollinge, "searching, seeking," verbal noun from prowl (v.).

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to prowling

prowl(v.)

late 14c., prollen, "rove or wander in a stealthy manner, move about in search of something," a word of unknown origin, with no known cognates. Spelling with -w- is from 1500s (compare bowls), but the word was pronounced "prôll" till late 18c. Transitive meaning "go stealthily over, as one in search of prey or plunder" is recorded by 1580s. Related: Prowled; prowling. The noun, in on the prowl, is attested from 1803.

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    wolf
    The wolf-spider so called for prowling and leaping on its prey rather than waiting in a web....
    loiter
    early 15c., "idle one's time, dawdle over work;" perhaps from or akin to Middle Dutch loteren "be loose or erratic, shake, totter" like a loose tooth or a sail in a storm; in modern Dutch, leuteren "to delay, linger, loiter over one's work," according to Watkins, literally "to ma
    tarry
    early 14c., tarien, "to delay in acting, procrastinate, retard" (transitive, a sense now obsolete), a word of uncertain origin. Some sources suggest a connection to Latin tardare "to delay." Others suggest some connection to the formally identical Middle English tarien "excite wr
    loaf
    late 13c., from Old English hlaf "a portion of bread baked in a mass of definite form," from Proto-Germanic *khlaibuz, the common Germanic word for "bread" (source also of Old Norse hleifr, Swedish lev, Old Frisian hlef, Old High German hleib, German Laib, Gothic hlaifs "bread, l
    walk
    "travel on foot," c. 1200, a merger of two verbs, 1. Old English wealcan "to toss, roll, move round" (past tense weolc, past participle wealcen), and 2. wealcian "to roll up, curl," from Proto-Germanic *welk- (source also of Old Norse valka "to drag about," Danish valke "to full"
    churl
    Old English ceorl "peasant, one of the lowest class of freemen, man without rank," from Proto-Germanic *kerlaz, *karlaz (source also of Old Frisian zerl "man, fellow," Middle Low German kerle, Dutch kerel "freeman of low degree," German Kerl "man, husband," Old Norse karl "old ma
    lurch
    "sudden pitch to one side," 1784, from earlier lee-larches (1765), a nautical term for "the sudden roll which a ship makes to lee-ward in a high sea, when a large wave strikes her, and bears her weather-side violently up, which depresses the other in proportion" ["Complete Dictio
    footle
    "to trifle," 1892, from dialectal footer "to trifle," footy "mean, paltry" (1752), perhaps from French se foutre "to care nothing," from Old French futer "to copulate with," from Latin futuere "have sex with (a woman)," originally "to strike, thrust" (which is perhaps from PIE ro
    linger
    c. 1300, lenger "reside, dwell," northern England frequentative of lengen "to tarry," from Old English lengan "prolong, lengthen," from Proto-Germanic *langjan "to make long" (source also of Old Frisian lendza, Old High German lengan, Dutch lengen "to lengthen"), from *langaz- "l
    lurk
    c. 1300, lurken "to hide, lie hidden," probably from Scandinavian (compare dialectal Norwegian lurka "to sneak away," dialectal Swedish lurka "to be slow in one's work"), perhaps ultimately related to Middle English luren "to frown, lurk" (see lower (v.2)). From late 14c. as "mov

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