dawdle

dawdle · verb, noun¹

1. Middle Low German · borrowed fromdȫdelen“to dawdle”
2. English todaydawdle

The verb is possibly: * a variant of daddle (“(Britain, dialectal) to walk or work slowly, dawdle, saunter, trifle”) or doddle (“(Britain, dialectal) to walk feebly or slowly, dawdle, idle, saunter, stroll”), possibly influenced by daw (“(Britain, dialectal) lazy, good-for-nothing person, sluggard”); or * borrowed from Middle Low German dȫdelen (“to dawdle”), related to Saterland Frisian döädelje (“to dawdle”); compare also German daddeln (“to play”), German verdaddeln (“to waste (time), neglect, ruin”). All of these words are assumed to be of imitative origin. The noun is derived from the verb.

dawdle · noun²

A variant of doddle.

First known use, by meaning

• from late 18th c. Chiefly followed by away: to spend (time) without haste or purpose.
• from mid 17th c. (probably dialectal); in general use from late 18th c. To spend time idly and unfruitfully; to waste time.