Meaning

verb assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to

noun a telephone connection

verb ascribe a quality to or give a name of a common noun that reflects a quality

originFrom Middle English callen, from Old English ċeallian (“to call, shout”) and Old Norse kalla (“to call; shout; refer to as; name”); both from Proto-Germanic *kalzōną (“to call, shout”), from Proto-Indo-European *golH-so- (“voice, cry”), from *gel(H)- (“to vocalize, call, shout”). Cognates * Scots call, caw, ca (“to call, cry, shout”) * Dutch kallen (“to chat, talk”) * German Low German kallen…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0