nibble

Etymology

It is first recorded as inherited from Middle English nebillen (“to peck at, nibble at”),^[2][3] and its origin is uncertain.^[4] It is perhaps borrowed from Middle Low German nibbelen (“to peck, to eat in small bites”),^[4][2][5] the view also of Barnhart, who cites Low German nibbeln or knibbeln, "to nibble, gnaw",^[3] and of the Oxford Dictionary of English, which calls the source probably Low German or Dutch.^[6] Merriam-Webster gives the origin as unknown.^[7] The Low German verb is cognate with West Frisian knibbelje and Middle Dutch cnibbelen, now Dutch knibbelen (“to gnaw, murmur; to haggle”), and is apparently an ablaut variant of knabbelen (compare knabble).^[4][3][8] The MED and Barnhart say that the spelling with e was affected by the rhyme in its first text,^[2][3] and the OED compares neb.^[4] Skeat, Weekley and Partridge explained it as a frequentative of nip,^[9][10][11] and Johnson derived it from nib, "the beak or mouth".^[12] The noun comes from the verb.^[4][13][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To peck away at, and so to make a stab at singing a part: The meyn shall ye nebyll, And I shall syng the trebill, from the Towneley Plays, in a manuscript of before 1500, from a text of before 1460.^[2][4] Barnhart's first record of the form nibble is in Dunbar's poems, 1500–20,^[3] and Etymonline's is about 1500.^[13]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense, taking small bites, has remained central: the intransitive use with at follows in 1582,^[4] and Johnson (1755) separates eating slowly from biting "as a fish does the bait".^[12] It also came to mean showing tentative interest, especially in a commercial offer: the verb in this sense dates from 1648, and the noun from 1797.^[4][14] Other senses arose in the same period: fidgeting with the fingers, from 1570,^[4] also recorded in 19th-century Selkirkshire;^[15] carping or petty criticism, from before 1591;^[4] and in slang, catching or nabbing someone, from 1607,^[16] and sexual intercourse, from 1611.^[4] The noun is recorded from before 1525 for the act of nibbling,^[4] and Merriam-Webster dates it about 1525,^[7] the Shorter Oxford to the late 15th century,^[14] and Etymonline and Barnhart to the 1650s.^[13][3] The noun came to mean a small mouthful about 1828,^[4] and Etymonline dates this sense to 1838.^[13] The plural nibbles, small savoury snacks, is first recorded in 1968, originally in the United States.^[4][17] In computing the noun has meant half a byte, four bits, since 1967; the spelling nybble is a humorous imitation of byte.^[4][14] From 1987 the verb is also used in a technical sense, of removing small portions from the edge of glass or tile with a tool.^[4][7]

Timeline

• before 1460 – nebyll, to peck away at.^[2][4]
• before 1525 – noun, an act of nibbling; a small bite.^[4]
• 1570 – to fidget or play with the fingers (obsolete by 1829).^[4]
• 1582 – intransitive, to take small bites, with at.^[4]
• before 1591 – to carp at; to make trifling objections (obsolete by 1878).^[4]
• 1607 – in slang, to catch or nab a person.^[16] The OED's first record is from 1608.^[4]
• 1611 – in slang, to have sexual intercourse (obsolete by 1686).^[4]
• 1648 – to show tentative interest, especially in a commercial proposition.^[4]
• 1797 – noun, a show of interest.^[4]
• c. 1828 – noun, a small mouthful.^[4] Etymonline dates this sense to 1838.^[13]
• 1865 – noun, in British underworld slang, an opportunity for gain or theft.^[16]
• 1967 – noun, in computing, half a byte, four bits.^[4]
• 1968 – noun, a small quantity of food eaten as a snack, often in the plural.^[4]
• 1987 – to remove small portions from the edge of glass or tile with a tool.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take small, gentle or repeated bites, or to eat in small amounts: Rabbits had nibbled the young lettuce. He nibbled at a biscuit.^[17][7][4]
2. To bite gently or playfully, as a sign of affection.^[17][4]
3. To show cautious or tentative interest, usually with at: Two buyers nibbled at the offer.^[17][7][4]
4. To take away little by little.^[7][4]
5. To trim the edge of glass or tile, or to cut metal, by removing small bits with a tool.^[7][4]
6. To carp or make petty criticisms.^[17][14][12] The OED marks this sense obsolete, with a last record in 1878.^[4]
7. (cricket) To play indecisively at a ball bowled outside the off stump.^[14]
8. (obsolete, 1570–1829) To fidget or play with something, especially with the fingers.^[4][14]
9. (obsolete slang, 1608–1851) To catch or nab a person; to pilfer.^[4][14][16]

Noun

1. An act of nibbling; a small or cautious bite: The angler sat all morning without one nibble.^[17][7][4]
2. A small mouthful or morsel; in the plural, nibbles, small savoury snacks, often served with drinks.^[17][7][4]
3. A tentative expression of interest, especially in a commercial proposition.^[7][4]
4. (computing) Half a byte, four bits; also spelled nybble.^[4][14]

Word family

• nibbler
• unnibbled
• nibbles

Related words

• nib
• neb
• knabble

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
12. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
16. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
17. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins