Etymology

Either borrowed directly from the ON n., cp. OIcel kall 'a call, cry, shouting' (thus MED, Anderson), or formed in English on calle (v.) (thus OED). Cp. also callyng (n.).

PGmc Ancestor

*kall- or *kalz- 

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

kalla (v.) ‘to call, cry, shout; send for; say; claim; name’; cp. kall 'a call, cry, shouting'
(ONP kalla (vb.); cp. kall (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far kall, Icel kall, Norw kall, Dan kald, Sw kall; cp. Far kalla, Icel kalla, Norw kalla, Dan kalde, Sw kalla

OE Cognate

cp. hildecalla ‘war herald’

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

C1ac

(C5)

Attestation

Relatively uncommon in ME; MED's citations begin with a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3) and are mostly, but not exclusively, N.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Cl 61; WA 983, 5188

Bibliography

MED cal (n.) , OED call (n.) , HTOED[], De Vries kall (2), Mag. kalla