Old English · verb

wæflian

Part of speech: verb
Verb class: weak class 2
IPA: /ˈwæf.li.ɑn/
[ˈwæv.li.ɑn]
Syllables: ˈwæf · li · ɑn (3 syllables)
Modern English: waffle foolishly talk

Meaning

to talk or speak foolishly; to waffle

Conjugation

Conjugation of wæflian
Indicative
	Present	Past
1st singular	wæfliġe	wæflode
2nd singular	wæflast	wæflodest
3rd singular	wæflaþ	wæflode
Plural	wæfliaþ	wæflodon
Subjunctive
Singular	wæfliġe	wæflode
Plural	wæfliġen	wæfloden

Non-finite forms of wæflian
	Form
Infinitive	wæflian
Inflected infinitive	wæflienne
Imperative singular	wæfla
Imperative plural	wæfliaþ
Present participle	wæfliende
Past participle	wæflod ġewæflod

Etymology

Origin obscure, but likely from Proto-West Germanic *wablōn, a dissimilated variant of *bablōn (“to babble”), from Proto-Germanic *bablōną, a variant of *babalōną. See babble. For change of b to w, compare Proto-Germanic *baswǭ and *waswǭ (“aunt”); Middle High German behaben and wehaben (“to behave”), a phenomenon of known occurrence in Proto-West Germanic descendants.

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wæflian · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution