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Origin and history of warble

warble(v.)

late 14c., in reference to a trumpet, from Old North French werbler "to sing with trills and quavers" (Old French guerbler, guerbloiier), from Frankish *werbilon (cognate with Old High German wirbil "whirlwind," German Wirbel "whirl, whirlpool, tuning peg, vertebra," Middle Dutch wervelen "to turn, whirl"); see whirl (v.). Transitive sense is from 1570s. Related: Warbled; warbling. The noun, "a stream of clear, rapid, gliding, melodious tones" is recorded from late 14c.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to warble

whirl(v.)

c. 1300, whirlen, "move with a circular motion; go swiftly; move erratically;" probably from Old Norse hvirfla "to go round, spin," related to hvirfill "circle, ring, crown," and to Old English hweorfan "to turn" (see wharf). Related: Whirled; whirling.

Whirler (n.) is by mid-15c. as "person who whirls" (of dervishes, etc.); by 1860 in reference to revolving mechanisms. Colloquial whirlybird "helicopter" is attested from 1945 in U.S. military jargon.

warbler(n.)

1610s, "one who or that whcuh warbles," agent noun from warble (v.). Also applied to many sorts of Old World songbirds and by 1783 extended to North American birds that resemble them in appearance but sing little.

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    descant
    c. 1400, deschaunt, "a counterpoint added to a given melody," from Anglo-French deschaunt, Old French deschant, from Medieval Latin discantus "refrain, part-song," from Latin dis- "asunder, apart" (see dis-) + cantus "song, a singing; bird-song," from past participle stem of cane
    quaver
    early 15c., quaveren, "to vibrate, tremble, have a tremulous motion," probably a frequentative of cwavien "to tremble, shake, be afraid" (early 13c.), which probably is related to Low German quabbeln "tremble," and possibly of imitative origin. With Germanic verbal suffix indicat
    pipe
    From 1590s, of birds, "to chirp, warble, whistle, sing." Meaning "convey through pipes" is by 1887....
    sign
    early 13c., signe, "gesture or motion of the hand," especially one meant to express thought or convey an idea, from Old French signe "sign, mark," from Latin signum "identifying mark, token, indication, symbol; proof; military standard, ensign; a signal, an omen; sign in the heav
    sing
    Middle English singen, from Old English singan "to chant, sing," especially in joy or merriment; "celebrate, or tell in song" (class III strong verb; past tense sang, past participle sungen), from Proto-Germanic *sengwan (source also of Old Saxon singan, Old Frisian sionga, Middl
    exuberant
    mid-15c., "over-abundant," from Latin exuberantem (nominative exuberans) "superfluous; extraordinary," present participle of exuberare "be abundant, grow luxuriously," from ex, here probably "thoroughly" (see ex-), + uberare "be fruitful," related to uber "udder," from PIE root *
    Appalachian
    in reference to the North American mountain range, c. 1600, Mountaynes Apalatsi; written apalachen by Spanish explorers and originally in reference only to the southern end of the range. Originally the name of the Apalachee, a Muskogean people of northwestern Florida, perhaps fro
    capacity
    early 15c., capacite, "ability to contain; size, extent;" also "ability" in a legal, moral, or intellectual sense, from Old French capacité "ability to hold" (15c.), from Latin capacitatem (nominative capacitas) "breadth, capacity, capability of holding much," noun of state from
    garden
    late 13c. (late 12c. in surnames), from Old North French gardin "(kitchen) garden; orchard; palace grounds" (Old French jardin, 13c., Modern French jardin), from Vulgar Latin *hortus gardinus "enclosed garden," via Frankish *gardo or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germani
    bust
    1690s, "sculpture of upper torso and head," from French buste (16c.), from Italian busto "upper body," from Latin bustum "funeral monument, tomb," originally "funeral pyre, place where corpses are burned," perhaps shortened from ambustum, neuter of ambustus "burned around," past

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