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garble

 - 3 dictionary results

gar⋅ble

  [gahr-buhl] verb, -bled, -bling, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to confuse unintentionally or ignorantly; jumble: to garble instructions.
2. to make unfair or misleading selections from or arrangement of (fact, statements, writings, etc.); distort: to garble a quotation.
3. Archaic. to take out the best of.
–noun
4. the act or process of garbling.
5. an instance of garbling; a garbled phrase, literary passage, etc.
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Origin:
1400–50; late ME garbelen to remove refuse from spices < OIt garbellare to sift < Ar gharbala < LL crībellāre, deriv. of crībellum, dim. of L crībrum sieve (see -elle ); prob. influenced by garboil

Related forms:
gar⋅ble⋅a⋅ble, adjective
garbler, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To garble
gar·ble   (gär'bəl)   
tr.v.   gar·bled, gar·bling, gar·bles

  1. To mix up or distort to such an extent as to make misleading or incomprehensible: She garbled all the historical facts.

  2. To scramble (a signal or message), as by erroneous encoding or faulty transmission.

  3. Archaic To sort out; cull.

n.  The act or an instance of garbling.

[Middle English garbelen, to inspect and remove refuse from spices, from Anglo-Norman garbeler, to sift, and from Medieval Latin garbellāre, both from Arabic ġarbala, to select, from ġirbāl, sieve, from Late Latin crībellum, diminutive of Latin crībrum; see krei- in Indo-European roots.]
gar'bler (-blər) n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

garble 
1419, from Anglo-Fr. garbeler "to sift," from M.L. and It. garbellare, from Arabic gharbala "to sift and select spices," related to kirbal "sieve," perhaps from L. cribellum, dim. of cribrum "sieve" (see crisis). A widespread word among Mediterranean traders; sense of "mix up, confuse, distort language" first recorded 1689.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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