garble

garble
garble (v.) early 15c., "to inspect and remove refuse from (spices)," from Anglo-Fr. garbeler "to sift" (late 14c.), from M.L. and It. garbellare, from Arabic gharbala "to sift and select spices," related to kirbal "sieve," perhaps from L.L. cribellum, dim. of L. cribrum "sieve" (see CRISIS (Cf. crisis)). Apparently a widespread word among Mediterranean traders (Cf. It. garbellare, Sp. garbillo); sense of "mix up, confuse, distort language" (by selecting some things and omitting others) first recorded 1680s. Related: Garbled; garbling.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Garble — Gar ble, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Garbled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Garbling}.] [Formerly, to pick out, sort, OF. grabeler, for garbeler to examine precisely, garble spices, fr. LL. garbellare to sift; cf. Sp. garbillar to sift, garbillo a coarse sieve, L.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Garble — Gar ble, n. 1. Refuse; rubbish. [Obs.] Wolcott. [1913 Webster] 2. pl. Impurities separated from spices, drugs, etc.; also called {garblings}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • garble — index cloak, falsify, misconstrue, misinterpret, misread Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • garble — *misrepresent, falsify, belie Analogous words: distort, contort, warp (see DEFORM): misinterpret, misconstrue (see affirmative verbs at EXPLAIN) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • garble — [v] mix up, misrepresent belie, color, confuse, corrupt, distort, doctor, falsify, jumble, misinterpret, mislead, misquote, misstate, mutilate, obscure, pervert, slant, tamper with, twist, warp; concepts 59,63 Ant. decipher, order, pronounce,… …   New thesaurus

  • garble — ► VERB ▪ reproduce (a message or transmission) in a confused and distorted way. ► NOUN ▪ a garbled account or transmission. DERIVATIVES garbler noun. ORIGIN originally in the sense «sift out, cleanse»: from an Arabic word meaning «sift» …   English terms dictionary

  • garble — [gär′bəl] vt. garbled, garbling [ME garbelen < It garbellare, to sift < garbello, a sieve < Ar gharbāl, earlier ghirbāl < LL cribellum, small sieve, dim. of L cribrum, a sieve, akin to cernere: see CRITIC] 1. a) Obs. to sort by… …   English World dictionary

  • garble — garbleable, adj. garbler, n. /gahr beuhl/, v., garbled, garbling, n. v.t. 1. to confuse unintentionally or ignorantly; jumble: to garble instructions. 2. to make unfair or misleading selections from or arrangement of (fact, statements, writings,… …   Universalium

  • garble — verb a) To pick out such parts of as may serve a purpose; to mutilate; to pervert; as, to garble a quotation; to garble an account. The editor garbled the story. b) To make false by mutilation or addition …   Wiktionary

  • garble — gar•ble [[t]ˈgɑr bəl[/t]] v. bled, bling, n. 1) to confuse unintentionally or ignorantly; jumble: to garble instructions[/ex] 2) to make misleading selections from or arrangement of (fact, statements, writings, etc.); distort: to garble a… …   From formal English to slang

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