Addle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈædÉ™l/
• Rhymes: -ædÉ™l

From Middle English addlen, from Old English edlēan ("reward, pay-back"), edlēanian ("to reward, recompense"); or of origin, from Old Norse ǫðlask ("to gain possession of property"), from ōðal ("owndom, property").

Full definition of addle

Verb

1. (provincial, Northern England) To earn, earn by labor; earn money or one's living. — Forby.
2. (provincial, Northern England) To thrive or grow; to ripen.
• Kill ivy, else tree will addle no more. – Thomas Tusser.

Middle English adel ("rotten"), from Old English adel, adela ("mire, pool, liquid excrement"), from Proto-Germanic *adalaz, *adalÄ… ("cattle urine, liquid manure"). Akin to Saterland Frisian adel "dung", Middle Low German adele ("") "mud, liquid manure" (Dutch aal "puddle"), Old Swedish adel "urine".

Adjective

1. Having lost the power of development, and become rotten, as eggs; putrid.
2. (by extension) Unfruitful or confused, as brains; muddled. John Dryden.
3. addled

Derived terms

• addle-brain
• addle-headed
• addle-pated
• addle plot
• addleness
• addlepated

Noun

1. (obsolete) Liquid filth; mire.
2. (provincial) Lees; dregs.

Verb

1. To make addle; to grow addle; to muddle; as, he addled his brain."Their eggs were addled." William Cowper.
2. To cause fertilised eggs to lose viability, by killing the developing embryo within through shaking, piercing, freezing or oiling, without breaking the shell.

Noun

1. A foolish or dull-witted fellow.

Anagrams

• daled, dedal, laded