babble
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English babelen, from Old English *bæblian, also wæflian (“to talk foolishly”), from Proto-Germanic *babalōną (“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”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
babble (uncountable)
- Idle talk; senseless prattle; gabble; twaddle.
- 1634, John Milton, Comus, a Mask, line 823:
- "This is mere moral babble."
- Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur.
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- The babble of our young children. - Darwin.
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- A sound like that of water gently flowing around obstructions.
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- The babble of the stream. - Alfred Tennyson.
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Synonyms[edit]
- See also Wikisaurus:chatter
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms
Translations[edit]
idle talk
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inarticulate speech
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the sound of flowing water
See also[edit]
Verb[edit]
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
- The men were babbling, so we couldn't make sense of anything.
- (intransitive) To talk incoherently; to utter meaningless words.
- (intransitive) To talk too much; to chatter; to prattle.
- (intransitive) To make a continuous murmuring noise, like 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 words or sounds 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 reveal; to give away (a secret).
Translations[edit]
to utter words indistinctly
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to talk much
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to make a continuous murmuring noise
to disclose by too free talk
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References[edit]
- babble in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
German[edit]
Verb[edit]
babble
- First-person singular present of babbeln.
- First-person singular subjunctive I of babbeln.
- Third-person singular subjunctive I of babbeln.
- Imperative singular of babbeln.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English onomatopoeias
- English reduplications
- en:Talking
- German non-lemma forms
- German verb forms
