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Babble

//ˈbæb.(ə)l// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun

1
Idle talk; senseless prattle uncountable, usually
"This is mere moral babble."
2
gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby wordnet
3
Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur. uncountable, usually
"[M]an has an instinctive tendency to speak, as we see in the babble of our young children; whilst no child has an instinctive tendency to brew, bake, or write."
4
A sound like that of water gently flowing around obstructions. uncountable, usually
"[T]he babble of the stream / Fell, and without the steady glare / Shrank the sick olive sere and small."

Verb

1
To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds intransitive
"The men were babbling, so we couldn't make sense of anything."
2
divulge confidential information or secrets wordnet
3
To talk incoherently; to utter meaningless words. intransitive
4
to talk foolishly wordnet
5
To talk too much; to chatter; to prattle. intransitive
"She babbled on for hours about the importance of some new gadget."

Show 5 more definitions

6
utter meaningless sounds, like a baby, or utter in an incoherent way wordnet
7
To make a continuous murmuring noise, like shallow water running over stones. intransitive
"Hounds are said to babble, or to be babbling, when they are too noisy after having found a good scent."
8
flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise wordnet
9
To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat words or sounds in a childish way without understanding. transitive
"All this vvhile John had conn'd over ſuch a Catalogue of hard VVords, as vvere enough to conjure up the Devil; theſe he uſed to babble indifferently in all Companies, eſpecially at Coffee-houſes; ſo that his Neighbour Tradeſmen began to ſhun his Company as a Man that vvas crack'd."
10
To reveal; to give away (a secret). transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English babelen, from Old English *bæblian, also wæflian (“to talk foolishly”), from Proto-West Germanic *bablōn, *wablōn, variants of *babalōn, from Proto-Germanic *babalōną (“to chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰa-bʰa-, perhaps a reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to say”), or a variant of Proto-Indo-European *baba- (“to talk vaguely, mumble”), or a merger of the two, possibly ultimately onomatopoeic/mimicry of infantile sounds (compare babe, baby). Cognate with Saterland Frisian babbelje (“to babble”), West Frisian babbelje (“to babble”), Dutch babbelen (“to babble, chat”), German Low German babbeln (“to babble”), German babbeln (“to babble”), Danish bable, bavle (“to babble”), Swedish babbla (“to babble”), Icelandic babla (“to babble”). Unrelated to Babel.

Etymology 2

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