garble

English

Etymology

From Middle English garbelen, from Anglo-Norman garbeler (“to sift”), from Medieval Latin garbellare (or a similar Italian word), from Arabic غَرْبَلَ (ḡarbala, “to sift”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɑː(ɹ)bəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)bəl

Verb

garble (third-person singular simple present garbles, present participle garbling, simple past and past participle garbled)

1. To pick out such parts (of a text) as may serve a purpose not intended by the original author; to mutilate; to pervert.

   to garble a quotation

   to garble an account

   • 1722, Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, The Author's Preface:

     In a word, as the whole relation is carefully garbled of all the levity and looseness that was in it, so it all applied, and with the utmost care, to virtuous and religious uses. None can, without being guilty of manifest injustice, cast any reproach upon it, or upon our design in publishing it.

2. To make false by mutilation or addition. [from 17th c.]

   The editor garbled the story.

3. To corrupt; to make unreadable, incomprehensible, or unintelligible.
4. (obsolete) To sift or bolt; to separate the fine or valuable parts of (something) from the coarse and useless parts, or from dross or dirt. [14th–19th c.]

   to garble spices

Derived terms

• garbley gook

Translations

to mutilate; to pervert

• Bulgarian: изопачавам (bg) (izopačavam), изкривявам (bg) (izkrivjavam)
• Czech: pomotat pf, zkomolit pf, poplést pf
• Dutch: knoeien met, verkeerd voorstellen
• Finnish: vääristellä (fi), vinouttaa
• French: brouiller (fr), déformer (fr)
• Georgian: დამახინჯება (damaxinǯeba), გამრუდება (gamrudeba)
• German: verstümmeln (de)
• Greek: διαστρέφω (el) (diastréfo)
• Macedonian: изо́пачи (izópači), и́зврти (ízvrti), и́скриви (ískrivi)
• Russian: искажа́ть (ru) impf (iskažátʹ), искази́ть (ru) pf (iskazítʹ), кове́ркать (ru) impf (kovérkatʹ), искове́ркать (ru) pf (iskovérkatʹ), искривля́ть (ru) impf (iskrivljátʹ), искриви́ть (ru) pf (iskrivítʹ)
• Ukrainian: перекручувати (perekručuvaty), спотворювати (spotvorjuvaty), викривляти (vykryvljaty)

Noun

garble (countable and uncountable, plural garbles)

1. Confused or unintelligible speech.
   • 1976, Boating (volume 40, numbers 1-2, page 152)

     The FCC says it decided to attempt standardization of VHF receivers after getting "thousands of complaints" from disgruntled boatmen who found their sets brought in mostly a lot of garble and static.

2. (obsolete) Refuse; rubbish.
3. (obsolete) Mutilation.
   • 1808, Peter Pindar, letter to Joseph Nollekens:

     Did not the lady smile upon the garble

4. (obsolete) Impurities separated from spices, drugs, etc.; garblings.

Further reading

• “garble”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “garble”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “Garbler of spices” by Victor Mair, published by Language Log (2022-08-21)

Anagrams

• Gabler, Grable, garbel