nibble

nibble · verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*gnet-“to press”
2. Middle Low German · derived fromnibbelen“to eat in small bites, peck”
3. Middle English · inherited fromnebillen
4. English todaynibble

The verb is derived from Late Middle English nebillen, nebyll (“to peck away at (something), nibble; (figurative) to attempt to sing (a part of a song)”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Middle Low German nibbelen (“to eat in small bites, peck”) (modern German Low German nibbeln, gnibbeln, knibbeln), possibly a variant of knabbelen, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gnet- (“to press”) or imitative. The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * Middle Dutch cnibbelen (modern Dutch knibbelen (“to gnaw; to murmur”), nibbelen (“to nibble”)) * Saterland Frisian nibje (“to nibble”) * West Frisian knibbelje

nibble · noun²

A pun on the homophony of byte and bite.

Words from the same roots