drivel

drivel¹ slaver; silly talk

Etymology

The word for slavering and silly talk is inherited from Middle English drevelen, also dravelen and drivelen,^[2][1][3] inherited from Old English dreflian (“to slaver, run at the nose”),^{[4][3][5][6][7][8]} recorded in a present participle glossing Medieval Latin reumaticus (“rheumy”).^[6][7] It goes back to Proto-Germanic *drablijaną.^[1][3] The OED explains it as a derivative with the suffix -le, perhaps from the Germanic base of draff, and the forms in -a- as coming from a by-form whose suffix did not cause i-mutation; the modern form with -i- probably arose from the forms in -e- by a sporadic raising also seen in trivet and limpet.^[9] Barnhart relates the Old English verb to draf (“refuse, dregs”), cognate with Middle Dutch draf, Old Norse draf and Old High German trebir (“grains, husks”) (modern Treber (“husks”)).^[3] Wiktionary takes it further to Proto-Indo-European *dʰerebʰ- (“cloudy, turbid; yeast”),^[1] and Etymonline suggests *dʰer- (“to make muddy, darken”);^[4] Holthausen and Partridge compare Ancient Greek τρέφω (tréphō, “to make curdle”).^[10][11] Weekley thought it ultimately cognate with dribble but not the same word,^[12] and Klein compares drool.^[8] The OED also notes the byname “Drefela” or “Drefla” of a Godwine in 1014, apparently meaning a driveller.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

To let saliva or mucus run from the mouth or nose, to slaver: in the Old English Antwerp-London Glossary.^[9] The first Middle English quotation in the Middle English Dictionary, from about 1350, compares a man's hood to a draveled lowt, a beslobbered lout.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense "to talk foolishly" appears in Middle English, in Langland's Piers Plowman (c. 1390, or 1378 for one version according to Barnhart),^[9][2][3] a transfer that Etymonline explains by driveling being typical of children, idiots and dotards.^[4] The Middle English verb could also mean to vomit.^[2] The noun, saliva running from the mouth, is recorded from about 1335,^[9] and Johnson (1755) still defined it as slaver.^[13] From 1686 one could drivel away time, wasting it foolishly, from 1752 drivel could take an object (to say something foolishly), and since 1842 one could drivel on.^[9] The noun in the now usual sense, silly talk or nonsense, is first recorded only in 1852, in J. S. Blackie.^[9][4][3] The literal noun is now somewhat rare or archaic.^[9][14]

Timeline

• Old English – to let saliva or mucus run from the mouth or nose.^[9][6]
• c. 1335 – noun, saliva or mucus running from the mouth or nose.^[9] Barnhart dates the noun to before 1325.^[3]
• c. 1390 – to speak or write foolishly, in Piers Plowman.^[9][2] Barnhart dates it to 1378.^[3]
• before 1425 – of saliva, to run from the mouth or nose.^[9]
• 1571 – transitive, to let saliva run from the mouth (obsolete by 1707).^[9]
• 1686 – drivel away, to fritter away, especially time.^[9]
• 1752 – transitive, to say something foolishly.^[9]
• 1842 – drivel on, to go on feebly or foolishly.^[9]
• 1852 – noun, foolish talk, nonsense.^[9][4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Silly or senseless talk or writing; nonsense, twaddle: The speech was two hours of drivel.^[15][14][9]
2. (archaic) Saliva running from the mouth; slaver.^[14][15][9]

Verb

1. To talk or write foolishly or childishly, often with on: He drivelled on about his car for an hour.^[15][14][9]
2. To let saliva run from the mouth, or mucus from the nose; to drool or dribble.^[15][14][9]
3. To waste time foolishly, with away.^[9]

Word family

• driveler
• drivelingly

drivel² drudge, fool (obsolete)

Etymology tree of drivel²

inherited borrowed derived

English drive

English drivel

From the same root · drivel²

English driveway ← drive

English overdrive ← drive

Etymology

The word for a drudge is probably formed from English drive + -le,^[9][1] unless it was borrowed from another West Germanic language: the OED compares the early modern form Dutch drevel and Middle Low German drēvel (“serf, menial servant, drudge”), and, for the tool, Middle Dutch drevel and Middle High German tribel (modern Triebel), a tool for driving things in.^[9] The Shorter Oxford takes it as apparently from Low German, comparing the Middle Dutch word in the sense scullion or turnspit.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A servant who does menial work, a drudge: about 1225, in the life of Saint Margaret.^[9]

Semantic evolution

From the drudge the word passed to a fool or imbecile (1478, in the Paston letters), probably under the influence of the verb drivel¹ in its sense "to talk foolishly", and to a dirty, slovenly or loathsome person (1498).^[9][6] Johnson (1755) still listed "a fool; an ideot; a driveller" under the noun, noting that this sense was out of use.^[13] All its senses died out between the late 16th and the late 17th century.^[9][6]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – a servant doing menial work, a drudge (to 1602).^[9]
• 1296 – a tool for driving in nails or wooden pegs, a carpenter's punch (to 1573).^[9]
• 1478 – a fool, an imbecile (to 1600).^[9]
• 1498 – a dirty, slovenly or loathsome person (to 1676).^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete, 1225–1602) A servant who does menial work; a drudge.^[9][6]
2. (obsolete, 1296–1573) A tool for driving in nails or pegs; a carpenter's punch.^[9][6]
3. (obsolete, 1478–1600) A fool, an imbecile.^[9][6][13]
4. (obsolete, 1498–1676) A dirty, slovenly person.^[9][6]