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”).
- 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.
- The babble of our young children. - Darwin.
- A sound like that of water gently flowing around obstructions.
- Asturian: bilordiu m
- Bulgarian: бърборене (bg) (bǎrborene)
- Mandarin: 廢話, 废话 (zh) (fèihuà), 閑話 (zh), 闲话 (zh) (xiánhuà)
- Danish: pladder
- Finnish: pulina (fi), lörpöttely (fi), höpötys (fi)
- French: babillage (fr) m, bavardage (fr)
- Georgian: ტიტინი (ṭiṭini), ტიკტიკი (ṭiḳṭiḳi), ბუტბუტი (buṭbuṭi), ლუღლუღი (luɣluɣi), ყბედობა (q̇bedoba), ენის ტარტარი (enis ṭarṭari)
- German: Geplapper (de) n
the sound of flowing water
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.
- Hounds are said to babble, or to be babbling, when they are too noisy after having found a good scent.
- (transitive) To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat, as words, in a childish way without understanding.
- (transitive) To disclose by too free talk, as a secret.
to utter words indistinctly
to talk much
- Asturian: bilordiar
- Bulgarian: бърборя (bg) (bǎrborja)
- Danish: sludre, plapre, vrøvle
- Dutch: kletsen (nl), babbelen (nl)
- Finnish: pulista, lörpötellä (fi)
- French: bavarder (fr), papoter (fr), caqueter (fr), jaboter (fr), jacasser (fr),
- German: schwätzen (de), plappern, babbeln (de)
- Ancient: θρυλέω (thruléō), λαλέω (laléō)
- Icelandic: babla, masa, þvæla, vera með heimskuhjal, tala of mikið, mala (is), blaðra, kjafta frá, fleipra út úr sér
to make a continuous murmuring noise
to utter in an indistinct or incoherent way
to disclose by too free talk
- First-person singular present of babbeln.
- First-person singular subjunctive I of babbeln.
- Third-person singular subjunctive I of babbeln.
- Imperative singular of babbeln.