footle

[foo t-l]Informal.

verb (used without object), foot·led, foot·ling.

to act or talk in a foolish or silly way.

noun

nonsense; foolishness; silliness.

Origin of footle

1890–95; origin uncertain; cf. footy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for footle

Historical Examples of footle

I never did it myself—I think it's footle—but lots and lots do.
The Flamp, The Ameliorator, and The Schoolboy's Apprentice
E. V. Lucas

British Dictionary definitions for footle

footle

verb (intr)

(often foll by around or about) to loiter aimlessly; potter

to talk nonsense

noun

rare foolishness

Word Origin for footle

C19: probably from French foutre to copulate with, from Latin futuere

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

Word Origin and History for footle

"to trifle," 1892, from dialectal footer "to trifle," footy "mean, paltry" (1752), perhaps from French se foutre "to care nothing," from Old French foutre "to copulate with," from Latin futuere, originally "to strike, thrust" (cf. confute). But OED derives the English dialect words from foughty (c.1600), from Dutch vochtig or Danish fugtig "damp, musty;" related to fog (n.).