babble
[ bab-uhl ]
/ ˈbæb əl /
verb (used without object), bab·bled, bab·bling.
verb (used with object), bab·bled, bab·bling.
to utter in an incoherent, foolish, or meaningless fashion.
to reveal foolishly or thoughtlessly: to babble a secret.
noun
RELATED CONTENT
Solving the Mystery Of Babbling Baby Talk“Baby needa burpie?! Yeees?? [burp] Oh! WHOOOZa good baby? YOU are! Yeeesssssyouare!” Whether you find this adorable or aggravating, gaggles of parents around the world speak to their infants in singsong “goos” and “gahs.” The style has diverse names, from baby talk and motherese (but what about Dad?) to the neutral and more official-sounding child- or infant- directed speech. Whatever you choose to call it, …
Why do sounds close to “mama” appear in so many languages?Mother, maman, mommy, amma, mama, em, mum, mamma, mutter, mare, maty, ana . . . Across languages an uncanny pattern appears for the word “mother.” Why? Is it evidence of universal language? Is this evidence of sound symbolism at work, when a phoneme (sound) has meaning completely unto itself? If you are a linguist, baby talk is not a cute and meaning-lite semi-language used with …
RELATED WORDS
gibberish, jargon, drivel, burble, blubber, mumble, mutter, murmur, gab, ranting, jabber, blubbering, gabble, gossip, prattle, clamor, chatter, gushing, muttering, jabbering
Nearby words
- babbitt,
- babbitt metal,
- babbitt, irving,
- babbitt, milton,
- babbittry,
- babbler,
- babbling,
- babbling brook,
- babblingly,
- babcock test
Origin of babble
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English babelen; cognate with Old Norse babbla, Dutch babbelen, German pappelen
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for babble
babble
/ (ˈbæbəl) /
verb
to utter (words, sounds, etc) in an incoherent or indistinct jumble
(intr) to talk foolishly, incessantly, or irrelevantly
(tr) to disclose (secrets, confidences, etc) carelessly or impulsively
(intr) (of streams, birds, etc) to make a low murmuring or bubbling sound
noun
incoherent or foolish speech; chatter
a murmuring or bubbling sound
Word Origin for babble
C13: compare Dutch babbelen, Swedish babbla, French babiller to prattle, Latin babulus fool; probably all of imitative origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper