Fangle
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A prop; a taking up; a new thing. obsolete
- 2 Something newly fashioned; a novelty, a new fancy.
- 3 A foolish innovation; a gewgaw; a trifling ornament.
- 4 A conceit; whim.
- 1 To fashion, manufacture, invent, or create. dialectal, obsolete
"[…]not hereby to control and new fangle the Scripture, God forbid, but to mark how corruption and apostasy crept in by degrees, and to gather up wherever we find the remaining sparks of original truth,[…]"
- 2 To trim showily; entangle; hang about. dialectal, obsolete
- 3 To waste time; trifle. dialectal, obsolete
Example
More examples"[…]not hereby to control and new fangle the Scripture, God forbid, but to mark how corruption and apostasy crept in by degrees, and to gather up wherever we find the remaining sparks of original truth,[…]"
Etymology
From Middle English fangelen (verb), from fangel (“inclined to take”, adjective), from Old English *fangol, *fangel (“inclined to take”), from fōn (“to take, seize”). Compare Old English andfangol (“undertaker, contractor”), Old English underfangelnes (“undertaking, hospitality”), Middle English fangen (“to take, seize, catch”), German fangen (“to catch”). More at fang.
Back-formation from newfangled (adjective) as if new + fangle (noun). See newfangle.
Related phrases
More for "fangle"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.