to involve oneself in a matter without right or invitation; interfere officiously and unwantedly: Stop meddling in my personal life!
Origin: 1250–1300;Middle Englishmedlen < Old Frenchme(s)dler, variant of mesler (Frenchmêler) < Vulgar Latin*misculāre, frequentative of Latinmiscēre to mix
Related forms
med·dler, noun
med·dling·ly, adverb
o·ver·med·dle, verb (used without object), o·ver·med·dled, o·ver·med·dling.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
late 13c., "to mingle," from O.N.Fr. medler (O.Fr. mesler) "to mix, mingle, to meddle," from V.L. *misculare, from L. miscere "to mix" (see mix). Meaning "to concern oneself" (usually disparaging) is attested from early 15c. From mid-14c. to 1700, it also was a euphemism for
"have sexual intercourse." Related: Meddled; meddler; meddlesome; meddling.