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Origin and history of boggle

boggle(v.)

1590s, "to start with fright (as a startled horse does), shy, take alarm," from Middle English bugge "specter" (among other things, supposed to scare horses at night); see bug (n.); also compare bogey (n.1), boggart.

The meaning " hesitate, stop as if afraid to proceed in fear of unforeseen difficulties" is from 1630s; the transitive sense of "confound, cause to hesitate" is from 1640s. As a noun from 1650s. Related: Boggled; boggling; boggler (from c. 1600 as "one who hesitates").

also from 1590s

Entries linking to boggle

bogey(n.1)

World War II aviator slang for "unidentified aircraft, presumably hostile," probably ultimately from bog/bogge, attested 16c.-17c., a dialectal variant of Middle English bugge "a frightening specter" (see bug (n.)).

If so, bogey shares ancestry with, and might have arisen from, dialect words for "ghost, specter, the devil," such as bogeyman "haunting specter, object of fear" (16c.), boggart "specter that haunts a gloomy spot" (c. 1570, in Westmoreland, Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire), and compare bogey (n.2). The earliest modern form appears to be Scottish bogle "ghost," attested from c. 1500 and popularized c. 1800 in English literature by Scott, Burns, etc.

boggart(n.)

also boggard, "specter, goblin, sprite," especially one supposed to haunt a particular spot, 1560s; see bug (n.).

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bug
"insect, beetle," 1620s (earliest reference is to bedbugs), of unknown origin, probably (but not certainly) from or influenced by Middle English bugge "something frightening, scarecrow" (late 14c.), a word or meaning that has become obsolete since the "insect" sense arose, except
flabbergast
1772, flabbergasted, mentioned (with bored) in a magazine article that year as a new vogue word, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from some dialect (in 1823 flabbergast was noted as a Sussex word), perhaps ultimately an arbitrary formation alluding to flabby or flapper and aghast. "L
waffle
"kind of batter-cake, baked crisp in irons and served hot," 1744, from Dutch wafel "waffle," from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German wafel, from Proto-Germanic *wabila- "web, honeycomb" (source also of Old High German waba "honeycomb," German Wabe), related to Old High German weba
waver
late 13c., weyveren, "to show indecision," probably related to Old English wæfre "restless, wavering," from Proto-Germanic *wæbraz (source also of Middle High German wabern "to waver," Old Norse vafra "to hover about"), a frequentative form from the root of wave (v.), with German
surprise
also formerly surprize, late 14c., "unexpected attack or capture," from Old French surprise "a taking unawares" (13c.), from noun use of past participle of Old French sorprendre "to overtake, seize, invade" (12c.), from sur- "over" (see sur- (1)) + prendre "to take," from Latin p
start
Middle English sterten, "leap, jump, cavort, caper," from Old English *steortian, *stiertan, Kentish variants of styrtan "to leap up" (but the Old English verb is attested only in Northumbrian past participle sturtende), from Proto-Germanic *stert- (source also of Old Frisian ste
startle
c. 1300, stertelen, "move agitatedly, run to and fro" (intransitive), also "caper, romp, skip; leap, jump;" from Old English steartlian, from the source of start (v.) + frequentative suffix -le (as in topple, jostle, fizzle, etc.); see -el (3). The sense of "move suddenly in surp
jump
1520s, "make a spring from the ground" (intransitive), a word with no apparent source in Old or Middle English, perhaps imitative (compare bump (v.)); another theory derives it from words in Gallo-Roman dialects of southwestern France (such as jumba "to rock, to balance, swing,"
bowl
"round, low vessel to hold liquids or liquid food," Old English bolla "pot, cup, bowl," from Proto-Germanic *bul- "a round vessel" (source also of Old Norse bolle, Old High German bolla), from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." Formerly also "a large drinking cup," hence figur
over
Old English ofer "beyond; above, in place or position higher than; upon; in; across, past; more than; on high," from Proto-Germanic *uberi (source also of Old Saxon obar, Old Frisian over, Old Norse yfir, Old High German ubar, German über, Gothic ufar "over, above"), from PIE roo

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