prattle

English

Etymology

From prate +‎ -le (early modern English frequentative suffix). Compare Dutch pruttelen and Dutch preutelen (“to mutter”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹætəl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætəl

Verb

prattle (third-person singular simple present prattles, present participle prattling, simple past and past participle prattled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To speak incessantly and in an inconsequential or childish manner; to babble.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:prattle

   • 1906, O. Henry, A Cosmopolite in a Café:

     And as E. Rushmore Coglan prattled of this little planet I thought with glee of a great almost-cosmopolite who wrote for the whole world and dedicated himself to Bombay.

   • 1952, Daphne Du Maurier, “Monte Verità”, in The Apple Tree:

     I looked across at Anna, and I noticed that her eyes had grown strangely blank, without expression. I felt instinctively that the subject brought up by Victor was one she would not have chosen. Victor, insensitive to this, went prattling on.

Derived terms

• prattler
• prattlingly

Translations

to talk incessantly; to babble

• Arabic: بَقَّ (baqqa)
• Asturian: esbabayar (ast)
• Bulgarian: бърборя (bg) (bǎrborja)
• Czech: plkat (cs)
• Danish: plapre, pludre
• Dutch: ratelen (nl)
• Finnish: pälättää
• French: bavarder (fr)
• Galician: laretar (gl), esbardallar (gl), barballar (gl), barallar (gl)
• Georgian: ტიტინი (ṭiṭini), ტიკტიკი (ṭiḳṭiḳi), ყბედობა (q̇bedoba), ლაქლაქი (laklaki)
• German: schwatzen (de)
• Greek: φλυαρώ (el) (flyaró), κελαηδώ (el) (kelaïdó)

  Ancient: φλυαρέω (phluaréō)

• Hungarian: csacsog (hu)
• Latin: garriō
• Macedonian: ломоти (lomoti)
• Maori: pahupahu, hautete, hote, tarawhete
• Polish: paplać (pl), bajtlować (pl) impf, zbajtlować pf
• Russian: лепета́ть (ru) impf (lepetátʹ), болта́ть (ru) impf (boltátʹ), трепа́ться (ru) impf (trepátʹsja)
• Sanskrit: लपति (lapati)
• Spanish: parlotear (es)
• Telugu: ప్రేలు (te) (prēlu)
• Vietnamese: bập bẹ (vi), bi bô (vi)

Noun

prattle (uncountable)

1. Silly, childish talk; babble.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:nonsense, Thesaurus:chatter

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], line 27:

     Mere prattle without practice is all his soldiership.

Derived terms

• prittle-prattle

Translations

babble

• Asturian: esbabaye (ast) m
• Bulgarian: бърборене (bg) n (bǎrborene)
• Danish: pludren c
• Finnish: pälätys (fi)
• German: Geplapper (de) n
• Greek:

  Ancient: λάλημα n (lálēma), λαλαγή f (lalagḗ)

• Irish: gliogar m
• Norwegian: bable (no)
• Russian: ле́пет (ru) m (lépet), болтовня́ (ru) f (boltovnjá)
• Scottish Gaelic: goileam m
• Swedish: pladder (sv), joller (sv)

References

• prattle, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2000)
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “prattle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• Platter, partlet, platter