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Origin and history of bubble

bubble(n.)

"small vesicle of water or some other fluid inflated with air or gas," early 14c., perhaps from Middle Dutch bobbel (n.) and/or Middle Low German bubbeln (v.), all probably of echoic origin. Figurative use in reference to anything wanting firmness, substance, or permanence is from 1590s. Specifically in reference to inflated markets or financial schemes originally in South Sea Bubble, which originated c. 1711 and collapsed 1720. Bubble-bath recorded by 1937. Bubble-shell is from 1847.

bubble(v.)

late 15c., bobelen, "to form or rise in bubbles," perhaps from bubble (n.) and/or from Middle Low German bubbeln (v.), which is probably of echoic origin. From 1610s as "cause to bubble." Related: Bubbled; bubbling.

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to bubble

blob(n.)

"drop, globule," 1725, from a verb meaning "to make or mark with blobs" (early 15c.), which is perhaps related to bubble. The same noun was used 16c. in senses of "a bubble, a blister." Related: Blobby.

blubber(n.)

late 14c., blober "a bubble, bubbling water; foaming waves," probably echoic of bubbling water. The original notion of "bubbling, foaming" survives in the figurative verbal meaning "to weep, cry" (c. 1400). The meaning "whale fat" is attested from 1660s; earlier it was used in reference to jellyfish (c. 1600) and of whale oil (mid-15c.). Compare bubble.

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ripple
early 15c., riplen, "to crease, wrinkle;" 1660s, "to present a ruffled surface," of obscure origin, perhaps a frequentative of rip (v.), and compare rip (n.2) and rumple. Transitive sense, in reference to the surface of water, "cause to ripple, agitate lightly," is from 1786. Rel
babble
mid-13c., babeln "to prattle, utter words indistinctly, talk like a baby," akin to other Western European words for stammering and prattling (Swedish babbla, Old French babillier, etc.) attested from the same era (some of which probably were borrowed from others), all probably ul
gurgle
early 15c., medical term for "gurgling heard in the abdomen," a native, echoic formation, or ultimately from Latin gurguliare, perhaps via Dutch, German gurgeln. Extended (non-anatomical) use, in reference to water over stones, etc., is first recorded 1713. "This phenomenon of lo
boil
(intransitive) "to bubble up, be in a state of ebullition," especially from heat, from Old French bolir "boil, bubble up,...ferment, gush" (12c., Modern French bouillir), from Latin bullire "to bubble, seethe," from PIE *beu- "to swell" (see bull...
well
"to spring, rise, gush," Old English wiellan (Anglian wællan), causative of weallan "to boil, bubble up, rise (in reference...source also of Old Saxon wallan, Old Norse vella, Old Frisian walla, Old High German wallan, German wallen, Gothic wulan "to bubble...
broth
Proto-Germanic *bruthan (source also of Old High German *brod, Old Norse broð), from verb root *bhreue- "to heat, boil, bubble...;" also "liquid in which something has been boiled" (from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn")....
bourn
brunnr, Old Frisian burna, German Brunnen "fountain," Gothis brunna "well"), ultimately from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble...
lubber
mid-14c., "big, clumsy, stupid fellow who lives in idleness," from lobre, earlier lobi "lazy lout," probably of Scandinavian origin (compare Swedish dialectal lubber "a plump, lazy fellow"). But OED suggests a possible connection with Old French lobeor "swindler, parasite," with
rubble
"rough, irregular stones broken from larger masses," especially "waste fragments from the demolition of a building, etc.," late 14c., robeyl, from Anglo-French *robel "bits of broken stone," which is of obscure origin, apparently related to rubbish "waste fragments" [OED], but al
strategy
1810, "the art of a general, the science of war," from French stratégie (16c.) and directly from Latinized form of Greek stratēgia "office or command of a general," from stratēgos "general, commander of an army," also the title of various civil officials and magistrates, from str

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