wabbeln

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German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German wabelen, merged with related Middle Low German *wabbelen. To the former compare Old Norse vafla, to the latter dialectal Dutch wobbelen, English wabble, wobble. All of these are iteratives of Proto-Germanic *wabōną, related to *webaną (to weave), whence Middle High German waben (to move about), Old English wafian (modern English wave).

In the High German form, the -bb- is due to blocking of open-syllable lengthening, which is fairly common before the syllables -el- and -er-. In the Low German form it must be due to expressive gemination.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈvabəln/, [ˈva.bl̩n], [ˈʋa-], [-bəln]
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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wabbeln (weak, third-person singular present wabbelt, past tense wabbelte, past participle gewabbelt, auxiliary haben)

  1. (informal) to wobble, wiggle, jiggle; said of jelly/jello, human body fat, and the like
    Synonym: schwabbeln

Derived terms

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Low German

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Etymology

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Cognate with English wobble and wabble.

Verb

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wabbeln (past singular wabbel, past participle wabbelt, auxiliary verb hebben)

  1. to wobble, wiggle, shake, waggle

Conjugation

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