rabblement

Jan. 2nd, 2013 07:35 am
prettygoodword: text: words are sexy (words are sexy)
[personal profile] prettygoodword
rabblement (RAB-uhl-muhnt) - n., a tumult, disturbance; a rabble, disorderly crowd.


No longer much in use, alas, but it's an old one: coined in the 1530s from rabble, which itself is of murky Middle English origin.

---L.

Date: 2013-01-02 07:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
I wonder which of those germanic variations appeared first ...

Date: 2013-01-02 09:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thistleingrey.livejournal.com
I'd vote Dutch/Low German as most likely source for English usage, given the century for the latter (late fourteenth into fifteenth). Cleasby-Vigfusson gives the Old Icelandic usage as from Karlamagnússaga, and thus it is suspect from a purist's standpoint, since a multilingual person (at least a person who could read multiple langs, even if not able to speak all of them) created that text. "Earlier" babble v.1, btw, isn't much earlier--the Nero Ancrene Wisse is mid-C13.

Date: 2013-01-02 09:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thistleingrey.livejournal.com
(Also, gosh, thank goodness for quick web access to various dictionaries and references.)

Date: 2013-01-03 02:06 am (UTC)
larryhammer: floral print origami penguin, facing left (Default)
From: [personal profile] larryhammer
Indeed.

---L.

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