babbling

Meanings

Noun

• a stage in child language acquisition, during which an infant appears to be experimenting with uttering sounds of language, but not yet producing any recognizable words
• sounds produced by infant during the babbling period
• Idle senseless talk; prattle.
• A confused murmur, as of a stream.

Verb

• Present participle of babble

Origin

• From Middle English bablyng, babelynge, equivalent to babble + -ing.
• From Middle English bablyng, babelynge, babelinde, equivalent to babble + -ing.