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addle

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addle¹

  • /ˈæ.dəl/

Rhymes with -ædəl

Where it comes from

From Middle English adel (“rotten”), from Old English adel, adela (“mire, pool, liquid excrement”), from Proto-West Germanic *adal, from Proto-Germanic *adalaz, *adalô (“cattle urine, liquid manure”).

Akin to Scots adill, North Frisian ethel (“urine”), Saterland Frisian adel (“dung”), Middle Low German adele (“mud, liquid manure”) (Dutch aal (“liquid manure”)), Old Swedish adel (“urine”), Danish ajle (“liquid manure”), Bavarian Adel (“liquid manure”).

adjective more addle · most addle

  1. Having lost the power of development, and become rotten; putrid. addle eggs
  2. broadly Unfruitful or confused; muddled. addle brains

Similar: addled

noun addles

  1. obsolete Liquid filth; mire.

verb addles · addling · addled

  1. To make or become addled; to muddle or confuse. to addle someone's brain
  2. To cause fertilised eggs to lose viability, by killing the developing embryo within through shaking, piercing, freezing or oiling, without breaking the shell. Their eggs were addled.

noun addles

  1. An unwise or intellectually impaired person.

addle²

  • /ˈæ.dəl/

Rhymes with -ædəl

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English addlen, adlen, probably from Old Norse ǫðlask (“to gain possession of property”), from ōðal (“owndom, property”).

verb addles · addling · addled

  1. Northern England To earn, earn by labor; earn money or one's living. ADDLINGS, wages. "Poor addlings," small pay for work. "Hard addlings," money laboriously acquired. "Saving's good addling," as the well known saying, "a penny saved is a penny gained."
  2. Northern England To thrive or grow; to ripen. Kill ivy, or else tree will addle no more.

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