kibble

kibble · verb, noun¹

Unknown; the verb is first attested in 1790 in William Marshall’s dictionary of agricultural provincialisms, of Shropshire dialect, perhaps variant of chip or derived from kibble (“an iron bucket”). The noun is derived from the verb. The Transformers fandom etymology 1, noun sense 4 was coined by Usenet user Lizard in February 1996, after etymology 1, noun sense 1 (“animal feed”); etymology 1, noun sense 5 is by extension.

kibble · noun²

1. Latin · derived fromcūpa
2. Vulgar Latin · derived from*cupia
3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gew-
4. Proto-Germanic · derived from*kub-“to be vaulted, arch”
5. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*kubil
6. Old High German · derived fromkubil“tub, bucket”
7. Middle High German · derived fromkübel
8. German · borrowed fromKübel“pail”
9. English todaykibble

From German Kübel (“pail”), from Middle High German kübel, kubel (“bucket, bushel, measure of grain”), from Old High German kubil (“tub, bucket”), from Proto-West Germanic *kubil, from Proto-Germanic *kub- (“to be vaulted, arch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew-, *gū- (“to bend, curve, arch, vault”). Alternatively, possibly from Vulgar Latin *cupia, from Latin cūpa.

Kibble · proper noun³

Variant of Keble; see there for more.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 1790 To grind coarsely.
• from 1902 Something that has been kibbled, especially grain for use as animal feed.
• from 1996–1999? In the Transformers fandom, parts of a combiner that cannot be stored and must be set aside when said combiner is disassembled.
• from 1997? In the Transformers fandom, pieces of a toy or figure necessary for one mode, but appearing out of place or unnecessary in the other.
• from 1671 An iron bucket used in mines for hoisting anything to the surface.