addled

addled
\ \ [13] Addled may be traceable back ultimately to a confusion between ‘wind’ and ‘urine’ in Latin. In Middle English the term was adel eyeaddled egg’. of which the first part derived from Old English adelafoul-smelling urine or liquid manure’. It seems possible that this may be a loan-translation of the Latin term for ‘addled egg’, ōvum ūrīnae, literally ‘urine egg’. This in turn was an alteration, by folk etymology, of ōvum ūrīnum, a partial loantranslation of Greek oúrion ōón, literally ‘wind egg’ (a wind egg is an imperfect or addled egg).

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • addled — index fatuous Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • addled — [adj] confused balled up*, befuddled, bewildered, fouled up*, gone*, mixed up, out of it, punchy, rattled, shaken, shook, shook up, slap happy, thrown, unglued*, woozy*; concept 403 Ant. clear, understanding …   New thesaurus

  • addled — [13] Addled may be traceable back ultimately to a confusion between ‘wind’ and ‘urine’ in Latin. In Middle English the term was adel eye ‘addled egg’. of which the first part derived from Old English adela ‘foul smelling urine or liquid manure’.… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • Addled — Addle Ad dle, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. {Addled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Addling}.] To make addle; to grow addle; to muddle; as, he addled his brain. Their eggs were addled. Cowper. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • addled — [[t]æ̱d(ə)ld[/t]] ADJ GRADED: usu ADJ n If you describe someone as addled, you mean that they are confused or unable to think properly. She wore a sweet and slightly addled expression... You re talking like an addled romantic. Syn: befuddled …   English dictionary

  • addled — addle, addled The usual word now is addled, and is applied (a) to eggs, and (b) figuratively, to brains (i.e. the mind). Originally, addle was a noun meaning ‘stinking urine or other liquid filth’, although its associations have usually been with …   Modern English usage

  • addled — ad|dled [ ædld ] adjective not able to think clearly: In my addled state I couldn t remember for a minute whose house I was in …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • addled — adjective 1 an egg that is addled is no longer good to eat 2 confused and unable to think properly …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • addled — UK [ˈæd(ə)ld] / US adjective not able to think clearly In my addled mind I decided they were trying to kill me …   English dictionary

  • Addled Parliament — The Addled Parliament was the second Parliament of the reign of James I of England (following his 1604 11 parliament), which sat in 1614. Its name alludes to its ineffectiveness: it lasted no more than eight weeks and failed to resolve the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”