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Origin and history of prate

prate(v.)

"chatter inconsequentially, talk foolishly or idly," early 15c., praten, from or related to Middle Dutch praten "to chatter" (c. 1400), from a Proto-Germanic imitative root (compare East Frisian proten, Middle Low German praten, Middle High German braten, Swedish prata "to talk, chatter"). Transitive sense of "say or tell in a prating manner" is from late 15c. (Caxton). Related: Prated; prating. As a noun, idle, childish talk," from 1570s.

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to prate

prattle(v.)

"talk artlessly and childishly," 1530s, a frequentative (or diminutive) of prate (q.v.); also see -el (2) and (3). Related: Prattled; prattling. The noun, "inconsequential or childish talk," is attested from 1550s.

Prattle is generally harmless, if not pleasant, as the prattle of a child, or of a simple-minded person ; prating now generally suggests the idea of boasting or talking above one's knowledge ; chat is easy conversation upon light and agreeable subjects ... ; chatter is incessant or abundant talk, seeming rather foolish and sounding pretty much alike ; babble or babbling is talk that is foolish to inaneness, as that of the drunkard (Prov. xxiii. 29) .... [Century Dictionary, 1895]
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    chatter
    early 13c., chateren "to twitter, make quick, shrill sounds" (of birds), "to gossip, talk idly or thoughtlessly" (of persons), earlier cheateren, chiteren, of echoic origin. Compare Dutch koeteren "jabber," Danish kvidre "twitter, chirp." Of teeth, "make a rattling noise from col
    palaver
    1733 (implied in palavering), "a long talk, a conference, a tedious discussion," sailors' slang, from Portuguese palavra "word, speech, talk," from a metathesis of Late Latin parabola "speech, discourse," from Latin parabola "comparison" (see parable). A doublet of parole. In Wes
    maunder
    "to wander about aimlessly," 1746, earlier "to mumble, grumble" (1620s), both senses perhaps (with a notion of "to speak with a beggar's whine or grumble") from frequentative of maund "to beg" (1560s), which is possibly from French mendier "to beg," from Latin mendicare "to beg,
    argue
    transmission to French might be via arguere in a Medieval Latin sense of "to argue," or from Latin argutare "to prattle, prate...
    mouth
    Old English muþ "oral opening of an animal or human; opening of anything, door, gate," from Proto-Germanic *muntha- (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian muth, Old Norse munnr, Danish mund, Middle Dutch mont, Dutch mond, Old High German mund, German Mund, Gothic munþs "mouth"),
    speak
    Middle English speken, from Old English specan, variant of sprecan "to utter words articulately without singing, have or use the power of speech; make a speech; hold discourse" with others (class V strong verb; past tense spræc, past participle sprecen), from Proto-Germanic *spre
    ratchet
    "pivoted piece designed to fit into the teeth of a ratchet-wheel, permitting the wheel to rotate in one direction but not in the other," 1650s, rochet, from French rochet "bobbin, spindle," from Italian rocchetto "spool, ratchet," diminutive of rocca "distaff," possibly from a Ge
    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
    smatter
    early 15c., smateren, intransitive, "talk idly, chatter; talk ignorantly or superficially," a word of uncertain origin, perhaps imitative. Similar words are found in Middle High German smetern "to chatter" and Swedish smattra "to patter, rattle," and compare Danish snaddre "chatt
    tattle
    late 15c., in Caxton's translation of "Reynard the Fox," "to stammer, prattle like a baby," senses now obsolete, probably from Middle Flemish tatelen "to stutter," parallel to Middle Dutch, Middle Low German, East Frisian tateren "to chatter, babble," Middle English tatteren "spe

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