[a. OF. charnel, carnel in same sense:—late L. carnāle ‘flæschus’ (flesh-house) (Ælfric’s Gloss.), = carnārium, whence OF. charner, charnier.]
1. † a. A burial-place, cemetery (obs.). b. A mortuary chapel, a charnel house.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. VI. 50. For in charnel atte chirche cherles ben yuel to knowe, Or a kniȝte fram a knaue þere.
1426. E. E. Wills (1882), 75. Sir Iohn, preest of þe charnell. Ibid. (1434), 96. My body to be beryed anenest the charnell of Poules, in Pouleschircheyerd.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 303 b. The commune charnell of the Cite.
1598. Stow, Surv., xxxiii. (1603), 295. The carriage of those bones from the charnell.
1644. Evelyn, Mem. (1857), I. 69. The vast charnels of bones, tombs, pyramids, and sepulchres, took up much of my time.
1683. Phil. Trans., XIII. 394. Supposed to be the Charnal of the Antonine family.
1766. Entick, London, IV. 199. Facing this [Paul’s] cross stood the charnel, in which the bones of the dead were decently piled together.
1868. Milman, St. Paul’s, 156. A chapel … called the Charnel, from whence … were removed cartloads of human bones.
† 2. A skeleton. Obs. rare–1.
1562. Leigh, Armorie, 199. The monks whereof had caused to be curiously painted, the charnel of a man, which they termed—Death.
3. attrib. and Comb. in sense: a. ‘of or pertaining to a charnel,’ as charnel-chapel, -priest, -stool, -vault, -yard; also charnel air, breath, meteor; b. ‘that is or serves as a charnel,’ as CHARNEL-HOUSE, charnel-cell, -dungeon, -ocean; c. ‘savoring or characteristic of a charnel,’ as charnel-book: some of which pass into true adjective uses as in B.
1813. Moore, Lalla R. (1824), 148. As dies the lamp In *charnel airs, or cavern-damp.
1647. Ward, Simp. Cobler, 76. Some are raking in old musty *charnell-books, for old mouldy monosyllables.
1847. Emerson, Repr. Men, iii. Wks. (Bohn), I. 334. A *charnel-breath so mingles with the temple incense, that boys … will shun the spot.
1814. Scott, Ld. of Isles, III. xxxii. Ere they left that *charnell-cell.
1538. Leland, Itin., II. 42. At the West end of the Area … is a *Charnel Chapelle.
1768. Beattie, Minstr., I. xxxii. Ghosts that to the *charnel-dungeon throng.
1815. Moore, Lalla R., Fire-worsh., I. (1850), 163. Lights, like *charnel meteors, burn’s Bluely.
1655. Fuller, Waltham Ab. (1840), 269. [The charge of an obit] to the *charnel-priest, three pence.
1451. in Rogers, Agric. & Prices, III. 554. 2 *charnel stools in chancel.
1634. Milton, Comus, 471. Those thick and gloomy shadows damp Oft seen in *charnel-vaults and sepulchres.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, Wks. 1775, II. 131. The half-drunk clown, as he staggers through the churchyard or rather *charnel-yard, to his home.
B. adj. Of, pertaining to, or fit for a charnel, or the remains there preserved; sepulchral; death-like, ghastly. (Not distinctly separable from prec., the use of the hyphen being unsettled.)
1824. Galt, Rothelan, III. 193. Something wildly charnel and characteristic of the tomb.
1845. Hirst, Poems, 51. Charnel figures … hurried by.
1850. Mrs. Browning, Dr. of Exile. Shall split the charnel earth.
1871. G. Macdonald, Wks. Fancy & Imag., II. 147. In every charnel breast Dead conscience rises slow.
