Etymology

slabber

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Today it means: To let saliva or other liquid fall from the mouth carelessly; drivel; slaver. Full definition →

Middle English slaberen ← Middle Dutch slabberen ← Old Dutch *slabron
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slabber · verb, noun1

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*slabrōną“to scrawl, make a mess”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*slabrōn
  3. Old Dutch · derived from*slabron
  4. Middle Dutch · derived fromslabberen“to lap, sup, slaver, slabber”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromslaberen
  6. English todayslabber

From Middle English slaberen, from Middle Dutch slabberen (“to lap, sup, slaver, slabber”), from Old Dutch *slabron, from Proto-West Germanic *slabrōn, from Proto-Germanic *slabrōną (“to scrawl, make a mess”), ultimately imitative. Cognate with Low German slabbern (“to slabber”), German schlabbern (“to slabber”), Icelandic slafra (“to slaver”). More at slaver.

slabber · noun2

From slab + -er.

Slabber · noun3

From slab + -er.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.