addle

Meanings

Verb

• To earn, earn by labor; earn money or one's living.
• To thrive or grow; to ripen.
• To make addle; to grow addle; to muddle
• To cause fertilised eggs to lose viability, by killing the developing embryo within through shaking, piercing, freezing or oiling, without breaking the shell.

Adjective

• Having lost the power of development, and become rotten; putrid.
• Unfruitful or confused; muddled.

Noun

• Liquid filth; mire.
• A foolish or dull-witted fellow.

Origin

• From Middle English addlen, adlen, from Old English edlēan ("reward, pay-back"), edlēanian; or from or cognate with Old Norse ǫðlask ("to gain possession of property"), from óðal.
• From Middle English adel ("rotten"), from Old English adela ("mire, pool, liquid excrement"), from Proto-Germanic *adalaz, *adalô. Akin to Scots adill, North Frisian ethel, Saterland Frisian adel "dung", Middle Low German adele "mud, liquid manure" (Dutch aal "puddle"), Old Swedish adel "urine", Bavarian Adel.