different between babble vs bauble

English

Etymology

From Middle English babelen, from Old English *bæblian, also wæflian (“to talk foolishly”), from Proto-Germanic *babal?n? (“to chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?a-b?a-, perhaps a reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *b?eh?- (“to say”), or a variant of Proto-Indo-European *baba- (“to talk vaguely, mumble”), or a merger of the two, possibly ultimately onomatopoetic/mimicry of infantile sounds. Cognate with Old Frisian babbelje (“to babble”), Old Norse babbla (“to babble”) (Swedish babbla), Middle Low German babbelen (“to babble”), Dutch babbelen (“to babble, chat”), German pappeln and babbeln (“to babble”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bæb.l?/
• Rhymes: -æb?l

Verb

babble (third-person singular simple present babbles, present participle babbling, simple past and past participle babbled)

1. (intransitive) To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds

2. (intransitive) To talk incoherently; to utter meaningless words.
3. (intransitive) To talk too much; to chatter; to prattle.
4. (intransitive) To make a continuous murmuring noise, like shallow water running over stones.
   • 1815, William Wordsworth, Extracts from Descriptive Sketches

     In every babbling brook he finds a friend.

5. (transitive) To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat words or sounds in a childish way without understanding.
   • 1712, John Arbuthnot, The History of John Bull

     These [words] he used to babble indifferently in all companies.

6. (transitive) To reveal; to give away (a secret).

Translations

Noun

babble (usually uncountable, plural babbles)

1. Idle talk; senseless prattle

   Synonyms: gabble, twaddle

   • 1634, John Milton, Comus, a Mask, line 823:

     This is mere moral babble.

2. Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur.
   • 1871, Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex

     The babble of our young children.

3. A sound like that of water gently flowing around obstructions.
   • ?, Alfred Tennyson, Mariana

     The babble of the stream.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:chatter

Hyponyms

Translations

See also

• babblement
• babblery

References

• babble in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

German

Verb

babble

1. inflection of babbeln:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
   3. singular imperative

English

Etymology

From Middle English bable, babel, babull, babulle, from Old French babel, baubel (“trinket, child's toy”), most likely a reduplication of bel, ultimately from Latin bellus (“pretty”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): [?b??b??]
• (Scots) IPA^(key): [?b?b??]
• (US) IPA^(key): /?b?b?l/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /?b?b?l/
• (US)
• Rhymes: -??b?l
• Homophone: bobble (in accents with the cot-caught merger)

Noun

bauble (plural baubles)

1. A cheap showy ornament piece of jewellery; a gewgaw.
   • 1818, Mary W. Shelley, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, Chapter 8

     as to the bauble on which the chief proof rests, if she had earnestly desired it, I should have willingly given it to her, so much do I esteem and value her.

   • 1977, Jimmy Webb, "Highwayman" (song):

     Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade.

2. A club or sceptre carried by a jester.
3. A small shiny spherical decoration, commonly put on Christmas trees.

Synonyms

• (showy ornament): See also: Thesaurus:trinket

Translations

Further reading

• bauble on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• bauble in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• bubale