babiller

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French babiller, from Old French babillier (“to stutter”), from a root *bab- (compare also Middle French baboyer (“to mumble”)), probably of Germanic origin, from Old Dutch *babōn, *babelōn (“to mumble, chatter, babble”), from Proto-West Germanic *babalōn, from Proto-Germanic *babalōną (“to chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰa-bʰa-, *baba- (“to talk vaguely, mumble”).

Cognate with Dutch babben (“to babble”), Dutch babbelen (“to babble”), German pappeln (“to stammer, babble”), Icelandic babba and babla (“to babble”). More at babble.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.bi.je/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

babiller

1. to chat; to babble; to natter (to talk about insignificant things)

   Synonyms: bavarder, jaser, jacasser

2. (Louisiana) to scold

Conjugation

Derived terms

• babillage
• babillard
• babillement

Further reading

• “babiller”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Old French

Verb

babiller

1. Alternative form of babillier

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ill, *-ills, *-illt are modified to il, iz, it. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.