[ gdw]
According to the OED, modern English peel derives from the Old English verb *pilian (‘to peel, remove the outer skin’), which, in turn, comes from Classical Latin pilare (‘to remove hair’). Similarly, this would link Anglo-Norman peel with peler1 (‘to peel’) rather than with pel1 (‘skin’), even though the DMF incorporates the sense ‘Enveloppe qui couvre les fruits et les légumes’ in its entry for peau. While it can ultimately not be excluded that peel should likewise be read as a variant spelling of pel1, we separate this spelling (and sense) on the grounds of it belonging, under the influence of English, to the pilare word-group.