marbles

marbles
marbles children's game, from plural of MARBLE (Cf. marble); first recorded by that name in 1709 but probably older (it was known in 13c. German as tribekugeln) and originally played with small balls of polished marble or alabaster, later clay; the modern glass ones with the colored swirl date from 1840s. Meaning "mental faculties, common sense" is from 1927, Amer.Eng. slang, perhaps [OED] from earlier slang marbles "furniture, personal effects, 'the goods' " (1864, Hotten), a corrupt translation of Fr. meubles (pl.) "furniture."

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Marbles — Album par Marillion Sortie 2004 Enregistrement à Londres, aux studios Intact Recordings Durée 66 min pour la version originale, Genre Rock néo progressif …   Wikipédia en Français

  • marbles — n. A children s game played with marbles[3], little balls made of a hard substance (as glass). [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Marbles — (märbls), engl. Kunstwerke aus Marmor. z.B. die Elgin Marbles …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Marbles — (engl., spr. Märbis), Kunstwerke aus Marmor …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Marbles — (engl., spr. marbls), Bildwerke aus Marmor …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Marbles — Este artículo o sección sobre música necesita ser wikificado con un formato acorde a las convenciones de estilo. Por favor, edítalo para que las cumpla. Mientras tanto, no elimines este aviso puesto el 15 de septiembre de 2008. También puedes… …   Wikipedia Español

  • marbles —    The early history of marbles is still obscure. Certainly, in the ancient world children played games rolling nuts, and coloured clay balls have been found in Egyptian tombs, but it is not known for sure what they were used for. It seems… …   A Dictionary of English folklore

  • marbles — n. 1) to play marbles 2) a game of marbles 3) (misc.) (colloq.) to lose one s marbles ( to lose one s mind ) * * * a game of marbles to play marbles (misc.) (colloq.) to lose one s marbles ( to lose one s mind ) …   Combinatory dictionary

  • Marbles — Die Marbles waren ein britisches Rockduo, das nur von 1968 bis 1969 Bestand hatte. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Geschichte 2 Erwähnenswertes 3 Diskografie 3.1 Singles …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • marbles — noun a) Any of several childrens games played with small glass balls. Egyptian boys played marbles<!no bold:the game before the days of Moses, and marbles are among the treasures found buried in the ruins of Pompeii.<!from Google Books b)… …   Wiktionary

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