babble
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English babelen, from Old English *bæblian, also wæflian (“to talk foolishly”), from Proto-Germanic *babalōnan (“to chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰa-bʰa-, *baba- (“to talk vaguely, mumble”). Cognate with Old Frisian babbelje (“to babble”), Old Norse babbla (“to babble”) (Swedish babbla), Middle Low German babbelen (“to babble”), Dutch babbelen (“to babble”), German pappeln and babbeln (“to babble”).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
babble (uncountable)
- Idle talk; senseless prattle; gabble; twaddle.
- "This is mere moral babble." John Milton.
- Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur.
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- The babble of our young children. - Darwin.
- The babble of the stream. - Alfred Tennyson.
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- A sound of or alike that which of flowing water.
[edit] Synonyms
- See also Wikisaurus:chatter
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
idle talk
inarticulate speech
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the sound of flowing water
[edit] See also
[edit] Verb
babble (third-person singular simple present babbles, present participle babbling, simple past and past participle babbled)
- (intransitive) To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds; as, a child babbles.
- (intransitive) To talk incoherently; to utter unmeaning words.
- (intransitive) To talk much; to chatter; to prate.
- (intransitive) To make a continuous murmuring noise, as shallow water running over stones.
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- In every babbling brook he finds a friend. - William Wordsworth.
- Hounds are said to babble, or to be babbling, when they are too noisy after having found a good scent.
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- (transitive) To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat, as words, in a childish way without understanding.
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- These words he used to babble in all companies. - John Arbuthnot.
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- (transitive) To disclose by too free talk, as a secret.
[edit] Translations
to utter words indistinctly
to talk much
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to make a continuous murmuring noise, as shallow water running over stones.
[edit] References
- babble in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
[edit] German
[edit] Verb
babble
Categories:
- Word of the day archive
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English nouns
- English verbs
- English reduplications
- en:Onomatopoeia
- en:Talking
- German verb forms
- German verb first-person forms
- German verb singular forms
- German verb present forms
- German verb subjunctive forms
- German verb third-person forms
- German verb imperative forms
