addlen.adj.

Brit.

/ˈadl/, U.S.

/ˈæd(ə)l/

Forms: Old English adal, Old English adela, Old English adol- (in compounds), Old English adul- (in compounds), Old English–Middle English adel, Middle English addull, Middle English adyll, Middle English–1600s adle, 1500s– addle; English regional 1800s– adle, 1800s– aiddle, 1800s– aidle, 1800s– eddel, 1800s– eddle; Scottish pre-1700 adill, pre-1700 adyll, 1700s–1800s adle, 1800s– addle, 1800s– aidle, 1800s– oddle (northern), 1900s– addil, 1900s– aidil, 1900s– odle (Orkney).

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Cognate with Middle Dutch ael (Dutch aal (now chiefly regional (Flemish), otherwise aalt)), Middle Low German ādel, ādele, addel, German Adel (16th cent., now regional), Norwegian regional aale, Swedish regional adel, al (chiefly in ko-adel, ko-al cow-urine (1727 or earlier)), Danish ajle, (regional) adel, al, aal, of uncertain origin. Compare Middle Cornish atal rubbish, mining waste ( < Middle English).In Old English usually a weak masculine (adela ); however, a strong masculine (adel ) is also attested. Not related to Old English ādl disease (see adle n.). Attested early in place names, as Adele , West Riding, Yorkshire (1086; now Adel), Adlemore (field name), Cheshire (1295), Addelane (street name), London (1304; now Addle Street), etc. The use as adjective (probably originally an attributive use of the noun) is chiefly after the use in addle egg n. at Compounds, which is after classical Latin ovum ūrinum (Pliny); this in turn reflects a misinterpretation of ancient Greek οὔριον ὠόν wind-egg (see wind-egg n.): οὔριος derives < οὖρος wind, not < οὖρον urine. However, the interpretation was probably motivated by, and the uses at B. reinforced by, the similarity of the smell of rotten eggs to that of (infected) urine (compare e.g. quot. 1655 at sense B. 1).

A. n.

1. Urine; liquid dung; foul or stagnant water; slime, mire. Chiefly English regional (chiefly south-western) and Scottish in later use.Frequently attributive, esp. in addle pool: a puddle of such water; spec. a pool containing the liquid that drains off a dungheap; a cesspool.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretions > urine > [noun]

migeOE

addleOE

lantc1000

urinec1325

pissa1387

stalea1400

watera1400

stalingc1420

lage1567

urine-river1633

emiction1666

sig1691

tea1693

piddle1870

number one1902

pee-wee1909

pee-pee1923

widdle1925

wee-wee1937

pee1957

wee1968

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > [noun] > mud

loamc725

fenc897

addleOE

fanc1340

mudc1400

slutchc1400

slikec1425

slipc1440

slobber1440

sorec1440

sludge1649

mux1746

gutter1785

slakec1800

sposh1836

mudge1848

the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > mud > [noun] > thin or soft

addleOE

slougha1225

mirec1390

slurc1440

slurryc1440

sludge1702

slush1772

slop1796

slosh1808

stabble1821

sposh1836

sleck1840

flop1844

squad1847

slather1876

OE Riddle 40 32 Ic fulre eom þonne þis fen swearte þæt her yfle adelan stinceð.

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxiii. 219 Ða swyn hi [sc. ða deoflu] gecuron for ðam sweartum hiwe and for ðære fulnysse fenlices adelan.

OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 146 Þa cwelleras..behyddon his halgan lichaman on anum adelseaðe... Þa æteowde Sebastianus on swæfne..and sæde hwær his lichama læg on þam adelan.

OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens Old Eng. Glosses of MS Brussels, Royal Libr. 1650 (1974) 259 Sentina : adelan, fetidissima aqua in naue.

1553 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Eneados iv. viii. 98 Scho gan behald In blak adill the hallowit, watter cald Changit in the altare.

1710 T. Ruddiman in G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneis (new ed.) Gloss. Adill, addle, rotten, stinking water.

1789 R. Burns Kirk's Alarm vi Then lug out your ladle, Deal brimstone like adle.

a1794 M. Palmer Dialogue Devonshire Dial. (1837) ii. 22 The ale was a' pirl'd, and dead as dish-water, a'd as lief drink the addle-gutter.

1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Adill, Addle,..the urine of black cattle, Renfrews.

1844 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words (1846) I Addle-pool, a pool or puddle, near a dunghill for receiving the fluid from it. South.

1864 E. Capern Devon Provincialism Addle-pool, stagnant water.

1925 Dumfries & Galloway Nat. Hist. & Antiq. Soc. 16 I'll gie they cabbage a drap o' addil the nicht.

1926 ‘H. MacDiarmid’ Penny Wheep 51 The aidle-pool is a glory o' gowd.

1975 J. Y. Mather & H. H. Speitel Ling. Atlas Scotl. I. 252 Gutter (the kind running through a byre), [Lanarkshire] aidle rin.

1988 W. A. D. Riach Galloway Gloss. Aidle, ooze, slime.

1995 D. Purves Hert’s Bluid 41 The aidil puils that decorates the closs.

†2. Dry sediment from wine. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.

ΚΠ

1679 E. Coles Dict. Eng.-Lat. (ed. 2) Addle, [coming from the lees of wine].

1730 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum Addle, the dry Lees of Wine.

1775 J. Ash New Dict. Eng. Lang. Addle, the dry lees of wine.]

B. adj.

1. Of an egg: addled, rotten, putrid.Recorded earliest, and now chiefly, in addle egg n. at Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > eggs > [adjective] > bad

addlec1275

addledc1630

c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 133 (MED) Euer he cuþ þat he com þonne, Þat he com of þan adel eye, Þeȝ he afro nest leie.

c1400 Femina (Trin. Cambr.) (1909) 9 (MED) Noun pas quex sount estergules..But nat þo þat beþ adle.

1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. i. 23 Thy head hath bene beaten as addle as an egge for quarrelling.

1643 tr. J. A. Comenius Janua Linguarum Reserata (ed. 6) xiv. §147 Poultry shut up in a hen-house lay eggs..and sitting on them (unlesse they be addle) they hatch young chicks.

1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. xvi. 137 New eggs are ever full, but old eggs lose every day somewhat of their substance, and in the end waxing addle stink like urine, whereupon they were called of the Latins Ova urinæ.

1781 T. Pennant in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 71 70 They [sc. Turkeys] sit on their eggs with such perseverance, that if they are not taken away when addle, the hens will almost perish with hunger before they will quit the nest.

1852 S. Maunder Treasury Nat. Hist. (ed. 3) 277/1 The female had laid five eggs in it, and..all these eggs had turned out addle.

1974 W. Leeds Herefordshire Speech 45 Adle, aydle, putrid, rotten (especially of eggs), e.g. ādle eggs.

2. figurative. With reference to the diminished or rotten condition of an addle egg: empty, idle, vain; muddled, confused, unsound.Formerly giving rise to much wordplay on addle and idle.

a. In simple predicative use. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [adjective]

redelessOE

mopishc1300

tottedc1500

addle1534

muddy?1571

addle1576

foggya1591

foggy-brained1594

addled1599

addle-headed1600

bezzled1604

addle-pated1614

addle-brained1619

buzzle-headeda1644

puzzle-headed1729

puzzle-pated1736

muddle-headed1760

ramble-headeda1761

hulver-headed1785

ramfeezled1786

muddled1790

hoddy-doddya1798

muzzy-headed1798

bother-headed1820

muddle-pated1823

pixilated1848

woolly1864

bungle-headed1865

mixed1880

muddlesome1887

wifty1918

woozy1941

spastic1981

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [adjective]

idlec825

unnuteOE

bricklec1225

tooma1250

unnaita1250

vaina1300

waste1303

overvoida1382

voida1382

superfluec1384

daylessa1387

unbehovely1390

unprofitablea1398

unbehoveful1429

wastefulc1450

idleful1483

fruster1488

vainful1509

frustrate?a1513

superfluousa1533

addle1534

lost1535

fittle1552

futilea1575

nugatory1605

futilous1607

shiftless1613

tympanous1625

emptya1628

frustraneousa1643

pointless1673

futilitous1765

otiose1795

stultificatory1931

1534 (?a1500) Shearmen & Taylors' Pageant 863 in H. Craig Two Coventry Corpus Christi Plays (1931) 30 (MED) Sytt he neyuer soo hy in saddull, But I schall make his braynis addull, And here with my pott-ladull With hym woll I fyght.

1602 T. Fitzherbert Apol. 15 Your owne imagination, which was no lesse Idle, then your head was addle all that day.

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. iv. i. ii. 737 Their braines were addle, and their bellies as emptie of meate, as their heads of wit.

1690 J. Dryden Don Sebastian Prol. 24 Thus far the Poet, but his brains grow Addle; And all the rest is purely from this Noddle.

a1797 E. Burke Thoughts on Scarcity (1800) 48 The brains of the people growing more and more addle with every sort of visionary speculation.

1803 G. Huddesford Bonaparte xiv. 22 The Monsieurs all strove, By their shouting, to prove That their lungs were as sound as their brains they were addle.

a1891 J. R. Lowell Uncoll. Poems (1950) 65 A King's whole outfit was, years back, A people and a saddle; Enough if he could spur and whack, Although his brains were addle.

2006 E. A. St. Amant Five Days of Eternity x. 101 He was addle and corpulent.

b. attributive. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [adjective]

redelessOE

mopishc1300

tottedc1500

addle1534

muddy?1571

addle1576

foggya1591

foggy-brained1594

addled1599

addle-headed1600

bezzled1604

addle-pated1614

addle-brained1619

buzzle-headeda1644

puzzle-headed1729

puzzle-pated1736

muddle-headed1760

ramble-headeda1761

hulver-headed1785

ramfeezled1786

muddled1790

hoddy-doddya1798

muzzy-headed1798

bother-headed1820

muddle-pated1823

pixilated1848

woolly1864

bungle-headed1865

mixed1880

muddlesome1887

wifty1918

woozy1941

spastic1981

1576 T. Newton tr. L. Lemnie Touchstone of Complexions Ep. Ded. sig. ❧5^v I haue done my beste, trusting that others..wil not..misconstrue my meaning, which was in plain tearmes and vulgare phrase to goe as neere to my Authours plotforme, as my adle head could well imagine.

1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie iii. viii. 144 Concerning his preaching, their very byword was, Λόγος ἐξουθενημένος, Addle speech, Emptie talke.

1614 J. Syvester tr. H. Smith Micro-Cosmo-Graphia 271 in Parl. of Vertues Sodaine Qualm, or sullen Care, Or addle Fit of idle Feare.

c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) v. 1836 Thus they drink round, Vntill their adle heads doe make the ground Seeme blew vnto them.

a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) i. xi. §2. 113 The corrupt fancies of their owne addle heads.

1632 Lyly's Endimion (new ed.) iv. iii, in Sixe Court Comedies sig. E4 Till sleepe has rock'd his addle head.

1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 59 Somewhat that is the fondling of our addle brains.

1693 W. Robertson Phraseologia Generalis (new ed.) 1333 I wish him an ounce more wit in his addle head.

1705 J. Vanbrugh Confederacy v. 69 If you, with your addle Head, don't know your own Jewels, I with my solid one do.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Addle, Empty or rotten; properly spoken of an Egg, and figuratively apply'd to a Hair-brain'd, Empty scull'd Fellow.

1779 Patriotic Perfidy 19 His addle brain to load with state affairs.

1806 R. Fellowes tr. J. Milton Second Def. in C. Symmons Prose Wks. John Milton VI. 372 The shell was no sooner broken than they loathed the addle and putrid contents.

1806 R. Fellowes tr. J. Milton Second Def. in C. Symmons Prose Wks. John Milton VI. 378 That tiresome and addle epistle which follows.

1851 C. Kingsley Let. in Life (1879) I. ix. 237 The barbarians..got into their addle pates that we were emissaries of Mazzini and Co. distributing political tracts.

1953 H. Cantarella tr. G. Salvemini Prelude to World War II (1954) ii. xxv. 211 MacDonald's addle-pate had become ‘more a liability than an asset’ and he was transferred to the office of Lord President of the Council, Stanley Baldwin assuming the premiership.

3. English regional (chiefly south-eastern). In a poor condition; weak; ill. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased

untrumc825

sickc888

unwholec888

slackc897

unstronga900

sicklea1000

sam-halea1023

worseOE

attaint1303

languishinga1325

heallessc1374

sicklyc1374

sicklewa1387

bada1393

mishalea1400

languoring?c1425

distempered1440

unwell?c1450

detent?a1475

poora1475

languorousc1475

maladif1481

illa1500

maladiousc1500

wanthriven1508

attainted1509

unsound1513

acrazed1521

cracked1527

unsoundya1529

visited1537

infirmed1552

crazed1555

healthless1568

ill-liking1572

afflicted1574

crazy1576

unhealthful1580

sickish1581

valetudinary1581

not well1587

fainty1590

ill-disposed1596

unhealthsome1598

tainted1600

ill-affected1604

peaking1611

unhealthy1611

infirmited1616

disaffected1626

physical1633

illish1637

pimping1640

invalid1642

misaffected1645

valetudinarious1648

unhale1653

badly1654

unwholesome1655

valetudinous1655

morbulent1656

off the hooksa1658

mawkish1668

morbid1668

unthriven1680

unsane1690

ailing1716

not wellish1737

underlya1742

poorly1750

indifferent1753

comical1755

maladized1790

sober1808

sickened1815

broken-down1816

peaky1821

poorlyish1827

souffrante1827

run-down1831

sicklied1835

addle1844

shaky1844

mean1845

dauncy1846

stricken1846

peakyish1853

po'ly1860

pindling1861

rough1882

rocky1883

suffering1885

wabbit1895

icky-boo1920

like death warmed up1924

icky1938

ropy1945

crappy1956

hanging1971

sick as a parrot1982

shite1987

1844 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words (1846) I Adle, Unsound, unwell, East.

1875 W. D. Parish Dict. Sussex Dial. (1957) 2/1 My little girl seemed rather adle this morning, so I kep' her at home from school.

1876 G. L. Gower Surrey Provincialisms (English Dialect Society no.12. Series C: Original glossaries) Adle,..weak, shaky; said of a fence the posts of which have become loose.

Compounds

addle-brain n. = addle-head n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > confused, muddled person > [noun]

mafflardc1450

juffler15..

dromedary1567

madbrain1570

batie buma1586

addle-head1592

blunderkin1596

nit1598

addle-pate1601

hash1655

blunderbuss1692

blunderhead1692

shaffles1703

fog-pate1732

blunderer1741

puzzle-pate1761

slouch1767

étourdi1768

botch1769

puddle1782

bumble1789

scatter-brain1790

addle-brain1799

puzzle-head1815

shaffler1828

chowderhead1833

muddlehead1833

muddler1833

flounderer1836

duffer1842

muddle-pate1844

plug1848

incompetent1866

schlemiel1868

dinlo1873

drumble-dore1881

hodmandod1881

dub1887

prune1895

foozler1896

bollock1916

messer1926

Pilot Officer (also P.O.) Prune1942

spaz1965

spastic1981

1799 C. T. Smith What is She? v. iii. 81 There's that addle-brain, Lord Orton, in love with you.

1880 B. Disraeli Endymion I. viii. 71 ‘Never mind Lord Waverly and such addle~brains,’ said Zenobia.

1991 Sunday Mail (Queensland) (Nexis) 3 Feb. Ada, an addle-brain who thinks she can fly.

addle-brained adj. (a) (of a person) having a supposedly addled or diminished brain; lacking clear or rational thought; muddled; stupid; (b) (of an action, scheme, etc.) motivated or characterized by incorrect or irrational thinking; unsound; ridiculous.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [adjective]

redelessOE

mopishc1300

tottedc1500

addle1534

muddy?1571

addle1576

foggya1591

foggy-brained1594

addled1599

addle-headed1600

bezzled1604

addle-pated1614

addle-brained1619

buzzle-headeda1644

puzzle-headed1729

puzzle-pated1736

muddle-headed1760

ramble-headeda1761

hulver-headed1785

ramfeezled1786

muddled1790

hoddy-doddya1798

muzzy-headed1798

bother-headed1820

muddle-pated1823

pixilated1848

woolly1864

bungle-headed1865

mixed1880

muddlesome1887

wifty1918

woozy1941

spastic1981

1619 T. Gataker Of Nature & Use Lots xii. 343 They are not such as haue any diuine Art or skill at all with them: but are either superstitious Wisards, or blinde Buzards, or idle-headed, or adle-brained, or arrant Beggars.

1770 T. Bridges Adventures of Bank-note I. xiii. 119 You see how many addle-brained fellows are every day running about the streets.

1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic III. iv. v. 100 The addle-brained Oberstein had confessed..the enormous blunder which he had committed.

1991 Independent 5 Jan. 22/1 The film is openly addle-brained:..reducing the Indo-China war to juvenile noise and slapstick.

addle egg n. an egg that is addled. [See discussion in etymology section.]

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > egg > [noun] > type of

addle eggc1275

goose-eggc1394

wind-egg1398

pigeon's egg1651

the world > food and drink > food > eggs > [noun] > bad egg

addle eggc1275

rotten egg1536

c1275Adel eye [see sense B. 1].

a1333 Gloss. W. de Bibbesworth (BL Add.) (1929) 72 Des oefes le donez germéez Non pas que sunt esterguléz, adely [prob. read adel ey].

a1475 in F. J. Furnivall Jyl of Breyntford's Test. (1871) 32 (MED) He is lyke..A sory laueroke satt on brode Opon two adyll eggis.

1567 A. Nowell Confut. Dormans Disproufe f. 428^v Hatched vs out such a sorte of goodlie decrees, woorse than addle egges.

1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. ii. 128 Pan. Hee esteemes her no more then I esteeme an addle egge: Cres. If you loue an addle egge as well as you loue an idle head you would eate chickens ith shell.

1667 Third Advice in Second & Third Advice to Painter 18 Alas, even they (though shell'd in trebble Oak) Will prove an Addle-egg with double Yoalk.

1766 Willoughby in T. Pennant Brit. Zool. ii. 62 Upon which lay one young one, and an addle egg.

1840 T. P. Thompson Exercises (1842) V. 191 Why must the 130 millions which are involved in railways be an addle egg?

1992 Summary of World Broadcasts Pt. 3: Far East (BBC) 9 Dec. FE/1559/A2/ 1 They threw addle eggs at the building of the ‘American Cultural Centre’ and scattered handbills demanding the pullout of the US forces.

addle-head n. a person whose mind is (supposedly) addled; a stupid or contemptible person.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > confused, muddled person > [noun]

mafflardc1450

juffler15..

dromedary1567

madbrain1570

batie buma1586

addle-head1592

blunderkin1596

nit1598

addle-pate1601

hash1655

blunderbuss1692

blunderhead1692

shaffles1703

fog-pate1732

blunderer1741

puzzle-pate1761

slouch1767

étourdi1768

botch1769

puddle1782

bumble1789

scatter-brain1790

addle-brain1799

puzzle-head1815

shaffler1828

chowderhead1833

muddlehead1833

muddler1833

flounderer1836

duffer1842

muddle-pate1844

plug1848

incompetent1866

schlemiel1868

dinlo1873

drumble-dore1881

hodmandod1881

dub1887

prune1895

foozler1896

bollock1916

messer1926

Pilot Officer (also P.O.) Prune1942

spaz1965

spastic1981

1592 B. Rich Aduentures Brusanus ii. x. 81 Grosse questions are to be answered with slender reasons, and adle heads should be scoffed at with idle answeres.

1641 ‘Smectymnuus’ Vindic. Answer Hvmble Remonstr. §16.205 Call them if you will, Popish fooles, and addleheads.

1956 S. O'Casey Green Crow 201 His [sc. Bernard Shaw's] reception of Brahms as a musical prodigy, but, compared with his great predecessors, an addlehead, is still resented by the old brahmins.

addle-headed adj. = addle-brained adj.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [adjective]

redelessOE

mopishc1300

tottedc1500

addle1534

muddy?1571

addle1576

foggya1591

foggy-brained1594

addled1599

addle-headed1600

bezzled1604

addle-pated1614

addle-brained1619

buzzle-headeda1644

puzzle-headed1729

puzzle-pated1736

muddle-headed1760

ramble-headeda1761

hulver-headed1785

ramfeezled1786

muddled1790

hoddy-doddya1798

muzzy-headed1798

bother-headed1820

muddle-pated1823

pixilated1848

woolly1864

bungle-headed1865

mixed1880

muddlesome1887

wifty1918

woozy1941

spastic1981

1600 N. Breton Pasquils Fooles-cap (rev. ed.) sig. C^v Hee that doth studie twentie things at once, And hath intent for to performe them all: And yet his beetle addle-headed skonce, In full conclusion can doe none at all.

1735 ‘R. Nab’ Addr. Batchelors Great Brit. 47 If he must either have his Ears fill'd with..a sage Curtain-lecture, or addle-headed Bed-roll on Caudles and Confections, o' my Conscience he'd better tend a Dung-cart.

1848 C. Dickens Let. 27 Nov. (1981) V. 448 I am quite addle-headed for the time being.

1978 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 29 Mar. They..claimed it would be absolutely addle-headed to allow another taxi fare increase in this town at this time.

2003 M. H. Kramer Quality of Freedom v. 385 Our efforts..will be like the efforts of astronomers who are so addle-headed as to measure distances between galaxies in inches.

addle-headedness n. the state, condition, or fact of being addle-headed; stupidity.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > [noun]

unwisdomc825

unredeeOE

egedec1175

unwitc1175

unwisdomnessa1200

dusileca1225

dusischipa1225

folly?c1225

kangschipe?c1225

unwitshipa1250

unwisenessa1340

cornardy1340

unwithead1340

lewdness1362

nicetyc1380

sotie1390

folitya1400

follinessa1400

foolheada1400

insipiencec1422

fondnessa1425

wanwita1425

cocardyc1430

foltry1440

jopperyc1440

folliheada1450

fonning?a1475

niceheada1475

foltheadc1475

folabilitya1529

daftness1552

foolageness1563

foppery1592

guckry1596

senselessness1606

coxcombry1608

goosery1642

ineptitude1656

fopicalness1660

fopperishness1683

insagacity1808

spoonery1824

spooniness1824

noodleism1830

addle-headedness1835

foolishment1852

insapiency1876

ineptness1877

goosiness1888

inepticality1923

sappiness1943

gormlessness1958

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [noun]

fogginess1648

unconnectedness1772

puzzle-patedness1799

botherheadedness1814

muzziness1814

addlement1825

addle-headedness1835

muddleheadedness1839

woolliness1856

puzzleheadedness1858

harl1889

wooziness1924

1835 T. P. Thompson in Westm. Rev. Jan. 263 Calculate the addle-headedness of such inveterate old women, as should go about recommending to try Juno for dry nurse.

1957 Fresno (Calif.) Bee 22 Aug. 5 c/1 To expose phony pretence and addleheadedness in however high places.

2001 Afr. Amer. Rev. 35 326 Slaves Today and Black No More complicate the attack on racialism by considering specific aspects of period addleheadedness.

† addle parliament n. Obsolete = Addled Parliament n. at addled adj. Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > a particular English or British parliament > specific

great Parliamentc1450

Good Parliament1580

addle parliament1614

giunto1641

junto1641

Unlearned Parliament1643

Long Parliament1646

rump?1653

Short Parliament1653

lay Parliament1655

Barebone's Parliament1657

Rump Parliament1659

Little Parliamenta1675

Long Parliament1678

Pensioner Parliament1678

Pensioned Parliament1681

Bluestocking Parliamenta1683

Pension Parliament1682

Pensionary Parliament1690

marvellous Parliament?1706

rumple1725

lack-learning Parliament1765

unreported Parliament1839

Cavalier Parliament1849

Addled Parliament1857

merciless Parliament1875

wonderful Parliament1878

nominated Parliament1898

1614 T. Lorkin Let. 18 June in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1849) (modernized text) I. 323 The parliament is dissolved, without the ratification of so much as any one act;..thereby rendering it, as they term it here, an addle parliament.

1825 J. Lingard Hist. Eng. (ed. 2) IX. ii. 150 In the quaint language of the time this was called the addle parliament.

addle-pate n. = addle-head n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > confused, muddled person > [noun]

mafflardc1450

juffler15..

dromedary1567

madbrain1570

batie buma1586

addle-head1592

blunderkin1596

nit1598

addle-pate1601

hash1655

blunderbuss1692

blunderhead1692

shaffles1703

fog-pate1732

blunderer1741

puzzle-pate1761

slouch1767

étourdi1768

botch1769

puddle1782

bumble1789

scatter-brain1790

addle-brain1799

puzzle-head1815

shaffler1828

chowderhead1833

muddlehead1833

muddler1833

flounderer1836

duffer1842

muddle-pate1844

plug1848

incompetent1866

schlemiel1868

dinlo1873

drumble-dore1881

hodmandod1881

dub1887

prune1895

foozler1896

bollock1916

messer1926

Pilot Officer (also P.O.) Prune1942

spaz1965

spastic1981

1601 A. Munday & H. Chettle Death Earle of Huntington sig. A2 I & my mates, like addle-pates, inuiting great States, to see our last play.

1769 A. Machay Pasquin II. 232 But pray which is he most, A silly fellow, or an addle-pate?

1849 D. M. Mulock Ogilvies I. xviii. 290 It is quite too overpowering for such addle-pates as this gentleman and myself.

1993 J. Kalb in J. McAuliffe Plays, Movies & Critics 275 If addlepates like Jürgen..defect from the program, that only proves their fundamental indifference to the world's horrible social inequities and dominant metanarratives.

addle-pated adj. = addle-brained adj.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [adjective]

redelessOE

mopishc1300

tottedc1500

addle1534

muddy?1571

addle1576

foggya1591

foggy-brained1594

addled1599

addle-headed1600

bezzled1604

addle-pated1614

addle-brained1619

buzzle-headeda1644

puzzle-headed1729

puzzle-pated1736

muddle-headed1760

ramble-headeda1761

hulver-headed1785

ramfeezled1786

muddled1790

hoddy-doddya1798

muzzy-headed1798

bother-headed1820

muddle-pated1823

pixilated1848

woolly1864

bungle-headed1865

mixed1880

muddlesome1887

wifty1918

woozy1941

spastic1981

1614 J. Taylor Nipping of Abuses sig. D^v Let euery Idle adle-pated gull With stinking sweet Tobacco stuffe his skull.

1864 Mattie III. 212 Two weak addle-pated mortals, only fitted for each other.

1954 M. Wheeler Archaeol. from Earth xi. 150 Almost every gang of them [sc. British workmen] contains..one addle-pated gossip, who must be isolated and extinguished at once, or the good men will rapidly deteriorate.

2008 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 8 June r7 Many lonely young people turned to comics in the 1970s and '80s..for the crazy, addlepated ads in the back.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

addlev.²

Brit.

/ˈadl/, U.S.

/ˈæd(ə)l/

Forms: 1600s adle, 1600s– addle.

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: addle adj.

Etymology: < addle adj. Compare earlier addled adj.Slightly earlier currency is perhaps implied by addling n.²

a. transitive. To make (a person's brain, etc.) confused or lose the ability to think clearly; to muddle; (also) to prevent (an action, etc.) from succeeding; to spoil (rare). Also with with.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > cause or effect (harm) [verb (transitive)] > do harm or injury to > affect detrimentally

atterc885

hurtc1200

marc1225

appair1297

impair1297

spilla1300

emblemishc1384

endull1395

blemishc1430

depaira1460

depravea1533

deform1533

envenom1533

vitiate1534

quail1551

impeach1563

subvert1565

craze1573

taint1573

spoil1578

endamage1579

qualify1584

stain1584

crack1590

ravish1594

interess1598

invitiate1598

corrupt1602

venom1621

depauperate1623

detriment1623

flaw1623

embase1625

ungold1637

murder1644

refract1646

depress1647

addle1652

sweal1655

butcher1659

shade1813

mess1823

puckeroo1840

untone1861

blue1880

queer1884

dick1972

forgar-

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > act of perplexing > confuse, perplex, bewilder [verb (transitive)]

abobc1330

confusec1350

confoundc1374

cumbera1375

passc1384

maskerc1400

mopc1425

enose1430

manga1450

overmusec1460

perplex1477

maze1482

enmuse1502

ruffle?a1505

unsteady1532

entangle1540

duddle1548

intricate1548

distraught1579

distract1582

mizzle1583

moider1587

amuse1595

mist1598

bepuzzle1599

gravel1601

plunder1601

puzzle1603

intrigue1612

vexa1613

metagrobolize?a1616

befumea1618

fuddle1617

crucify1621

bumfiddlea1625

implicate1625

giddify1628

wilder1642

buzzlea1644

empuzzle1646

dunce1649

addle1652

meander1652

emberlucock1653

flounder1654

study1654

disorient1655

embarrass?1656

essome1660

embrangle1664

jumble1668

dunt1672

muse1673

clutter1685

emblustricate1693

fluster1720

disorientate1728

obfuscate1729

fickle1736

flustrate1797

unharmonize1797

mystify1806

maffle1811

boggle1835

unballast1836

stomber1841

throw1844

serpentine1850

unbalance1856

tickle1865

fog1872

bumfuzzle1878

wander1897

to put off1909

defeat1914

dither1919

befuddle1926

ungear1931

to screw up1941

1652 Total Rout in Commw. Ball. (Percy Soc.) 133 With dammees and rammees you addle his brains.

1680 T. Otway Hist. Caius Marius ii. 17 One Bottle to his Lady's health quite addles him.

1708 E. Ward Mod. World Disrob'd i. 7 She's so heavily concern'd at the Wickedness of others, that she addles her Brains, by shaking her Noddle at the Sins of her Neighbours.

1781 W. F. Mavor Cheltenham Guide i. 13 Roger at Bath has so addled her brain, I'm afraid she will never her senses regain.

1841 C. Dickens Let. 26 Feb. (1969) II. 220 I have addled my head with writing all day.

1878 R. Simpson School of Shakspere I. 97 His cold procrastination addled the victory of Lepanto, as it had formerly addled that of St. Quentin.

1904 C. Marriott Genevra vi. 106 Addling their brains with plum trash about love and all.

1971 H. S. Thompson Let. 15 June in Fear & Loathing in Amer. (2000) 408 If there's anything in this letter that addles or disturbs your thinking, you should get your reply off at once.

1999 D. Morrissey Kit's Law iii. 38 There was a stink of spirits comin' off him that could've addled the heads of a cackle of saints.

b. intransitive. Of the brain, etc.: to become muddled or unsound.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > wander in thought [verb (intransitive)] > of the mind: be confused

addle1664

spin1819

1664 W. Killigrew Pandora ii. 33 Only some fumes from his heart Madam, makes his head addle. Tis call'd the Spleen of late, and much in fashion.

1746 Exmoor Scolding (ed. 3) i. 7 Chell make thy Yead addle.

1807 C. I. M. Dibdin Mirth & Metre 30 Then mind..how you rock the cradle;..If once too much, its brains, you know, will addle.

1883 Tinsley's Mag. Aug. 113 The other thing analyses, and criticises, and synthesises, and so forth until your brains addle.

2003 Guardian (Nexis) 5 Apr. 27 As Maria's celebrity grows, her body shrinks and her mind addles, until she has dwindled to an anorexic five stone.

a. intransitive. Of an egg: to become rotten; to fail to produce a chick; to rot, to putrefy. Also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > worse > [verb (intransitive)]

worseeOE

aswindc885

worsena1250

appair1340

impair1340

fainta1375

pairc1390

vade1471

decay1511

decline1530

degenerate1545

lapse1641

addle1654

sunset1656

deteriorate1758

worst1781

descend1829

disimprove1846

slush1882

devolute1893

worser1894

the world > food and drink > food > eggs > [verb (intransitive)] > go bad

addle1654

1654 J. Hall Of Govt. & Obed. iv. 443 This Spirit is..a substance which is neither suffered to addle through cold, nor harden through heat.

1712 W. Rogers Cruising Voy. 276 They found the [turtle's] Eggs addled in less than 12 Hours, and in about 12 more they had young ones in 'em, compleatly shap'd, and alive.

1792 W. Osbaldiston Brit. Sportsman 108/2 The eggs, which hens lay without being trod must not be hatched, for they will addle.

1809 W. Combe Schoolmaster's Tour in Poet. Mag. Nov. 198 Tho' his courage 'gan to addle, He still stuck close unto his saddle.

a1856 H. Miller Testimony of Rocks (1857) viii. 337 For in still water, however pure, the eggs in a few weeks addle and die.

1945 Folk-lore 56 290 A hen must have thirteen eggs to sit upon, or she will be unlucky; if she has thirteen she will then hatch twelve chickens and one egg will addle.

1996 B. E. Beans Eagle's Plume (1997) v. 82 The extremely hot and dry weather of 1949 and 1950 had caused the eggs to addle.

b. transitive. To cause (an egg) to become rotten; to subject (an egg) to some external influence such that it fails to produce a chick.

ΚΠ

1834 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Islands II. 271 Those hens which do not perform that operation [sc. rolling the eggs] so diligently, are incapable of hatching a numerous brood without addling some of the eggs.

1899 Country Life Illustr. 3 June 701/2 Grouse are prone to nest in spots that heavy rain-storms may altogether put under water for some days, either drowning the young birds or addling the eggs.

1932 Classical Weekly 2 May 200/2 We are told by Aristotle that thunder during incubation addles eggs.

1962 Cumberland (Maryland) Evening Times 30 July 4/6 The Senator's lady was afraid that vibrations of the air conditioner would addle the eggs.

2009 S. Nicholls Paradise Found vi. 101 The Maryland Department of Natural Resources came up with a plan that combined addling mute swan eggs with shooting adults.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

单词	addle
释义	addlen.adj. Brit. /ˈadl/, U.S. /ˈæd(ə)l/ Forms: Old English adal, Old English adela, Old English adol- (in compounds), Old English adul- (in compounds), Old English–Middle English adel, Middle English addull, Middle English adyll, Middle English–1600s adle, 1500s– addle; English regional 1800s– adle, 1800s– aiddle, 1800s– aidle, 1800s– eddel, 1800s– eddle; Scottish pre-1700 adill, pre-1700 adyll, 1700s–1800s adle, 1800s– addle, 1800s– aidle, 1800s– oddle (northern), 1900s– addil, 1900s– aidil, 1900s– odle (Orkney). Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Middle Dutch ael (Dutch aal (now chiefly regional (Flemish), otherwise aalt)), Middle Low German ādel, ādele, addel, German Adel (16th cent., now regional), Norwegian regional aale, Swedish regional adel, al (chiefly in ko-adel, ko-al cow-urine (1727 or earlier)), Danish ajle, (regional) adel, al, aal, of uncertain origin. Compare Middle Cornish atal rubbish, mining waste ( < Middle English).In Old English usually a weak masculine (adela ); however, a strong masculine (adel ) is also attested. Not related to Old English ādl disease (see adle n.). Attested early in place names, as Adele , West Riding, Yorkshire (1086; now Adel), Adlemore (field name), Cheshire (1295), Addelane (street name), London (1304; now Addle Street), etc. The use as adjective (probably originally an attributive use of the noun) is chiefly after the use in addle egg n. at Compounds, which is after classical Latin ovum ūrinum (Pliny); this in turn reflects a misinterpretation of ancient Greek οὔριον ὠόν wind-egg (see wind-egg n.): οὔριος derives < οὖρος wind, not < οὖρον urine. However, the interpretation was probably motivated by, and the uses at B. reinforced by, the similarity of the smell of rotten eggs to that of (infected) urine (compare e.g. quot. 1655 at sense B. 1). A. n. 1. Urine; liquid dung; foul or stagnant water; slime, mire. Chiefly English regional (chiefly south-western) and Scottish in later use.Frequently attributive, esp. in addle pool: a puddle of such water; spec. a pool containing the liquid that drains off a dungheap; a cesspool. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretions > urine > [noun] migeOE addleOE lantc1000 urinec1325 pissa1387 stalea1400 watera1400 stalingc1420 lage1567 urine-river1633 emiction1666 sig1691 tea1693 piddle1870 number one1902 pee-wee1909 pee-pee1923 widdle1925 wee-wee1937 pee1957 wee1968 the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > [noun] > mud loamc725 fenc897 addleOE fanc1340 mudc1400 slutchc1400 slikec1425 slipc1440 slobber1440 sorec1440 sludge1649 mux1746 gutter1785 slakec1800 sposh1836 mudge1848 the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > mud > [noun] > thin or soft addleOE slougha1225 mirec1390 slurc1440 slurryc1440 sludge1702 slush1772 slop1796 slosh1808 stabble1821 sposh1836 sleck1840 flop1844 squad1847 slather1876 OE Riddle 40 32 Ic fulre eom þonne þis fen swearte þæt her yfle adelan stinceð. OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxiii. 219 Ða swyn hi [sc. ða deoflu] gecuron for ðam sweartum hiwe and for ðære fulnysse fenlices adelan. OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 146 Þa cwelleras..behyddon his halgan lichaman on anum adelseaðe... Þa æteowde Sebastianus on swæfne..and sæde hwær his lichama læg on þam adelan. OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens Old Eng. Glosses of MS Brussels, Royal Libr. 1650 (1974) 259 Sentina : adelan, fetidissima aqua in naue. 1553 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Eneados iv. viii. 98 Scho gan behald In blak adill the hallowit, watter cald Changit in the altare. 1710 T. Ruddiman in G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneis (new ed.) Gloss. Adill, addle, rotten, stinking water. 1789 R. Burns Kirk's Alarm vi Then lug out your ladle, Deal brimstone like adle. a1794 M. Palmer Dialogue Devonshire Dial. (1837) ii. 22 The ale was a' pirl'd, and dead as dish-water, a'd as lief drink the addle-gutter. 1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Adill, Addle,..the urine of black cattle, Renfrews. 1844 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words (1846) I Addle-pool, a pool or puddle, near a dunghill for receiving the fluid from it. South. 1864 E. Capern Devon Provincialism Addle-pool, stagnant water. 1925 Dumfries & Galloway Nat. Hist. & Antiq. Soc. 16 I'll gie they cabbage a drap o' addil the nicht. 1926 ‘H. MacDiarmid’ Penny Wheep 51 The aidle-pool is a glory o' gowd. 1975 J. Y. Mather & H. H. Speitel Ling. Atlas Scotl. I. 252 Gutter (the kind running through a byre), [Lanarkshire] aidle rin. 1988 W. A. D. Riach Galloway Gloss. Aidle, ooze, slime. 1995 D. Purves Hert’s Bluid 41 The aidil puils that decorates the closs. †2. Dry sediment from wine. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries. ΚΠ 1679 E. Coles Dict. Eng.-Lat. (ed. 2) Addle, [coming from the lees of wine]. 1730 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum Addle, the dry Lees of Wine. 1775 J. Ash New Dict. Eng. Lang. Addle, the dry lees of wine.] B. adj. 1. Of an egg: addled, rotten, putrid.Recorded earliest, and now chiefly, in addle egg n. at Compounds. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > eggs > [adjective] > bad addlec1275 addledc1630 c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 133 (MED) Euer he cuþ þat he com þonne, Þat he com of þan adel eye, Þeȝ he afro nest leie. c1400 Femina (Trin. Cambr.) (1909) 9 (MED) Noun pas quex sount estergules..But nat þo þat beþ adle. 1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. i. 23 Thy head hath bene beaten as addle as an egge for quarrelling. View more context for this quotation 1643 tr. J. A. Comenius Janua Linguarum Reserata (ed. 6) xiv. §147 Poultry shut up in a hen-house lay eggs..and sitting on them (unlesse they be addle) they hatch young chicks. 1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. xvi. 137 New eggs are ever full, but old eggs lose every day somewhat of their substance, and in the end waxing addle stink like urine, whereupon they were called of the Latins Ova urinæ. 1781 T. Pennant in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 71 70 They [sc. Turkeys] sit on their eggs with such perseverance, that if they are not taken away when addle, the hens will almost perish with hunger before they will quit the nest. 1852 S. Maunder Treasury Nat. Hist. (ed. 3) 277/1 The female had laid five eggs in it, and..all these eggs had turned out addle. 1974 W. Leeds Herefordshire Speech 45 Adle, aydle, putrid, rotten (especially of eggs), e.g. ādle eggs. 2. figurative. With reference to the diminished or rotten condition of an addle egg: empty, idle, vain; muddled, confused, unsound.Formerly giving rise to much wordplay on addle and idle. a. In simple predicative use. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [adjective] redelessOE mopishc1300 tottedc1500 addle1534 muddy?1571 addle1576 foggya1591 foggy-brained1594 addled1599 addle-headed1600 bezzled1604 addle-pated1614 addle-brained1619 buzzle-headeda1644 puzzle-headed1729 puzzle-pated1736 muddle-headed1760 ramble-headeda1761 hulver-headed1785 ramfeezled1786 muddled1790 hoddy-doddya1798 muzzy-headed1798 bother-headed1820 muddle-pated1823 pixilated1848 woolly1864 bungle-headed1865 mixed1880 muddlesome1887 wifty1918 woozy1941 spastic1981 the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [adjective] idlec825 unnuteOE bricklec1225 tooma1250 unnaita1250 vaina1300 waste1303 overvoida1382 voida1382 superfluec1384 daylessa1387 unbehovely1390 unprofitablea1398 unbehoveful1429 wastefulc1450 idleful1483 fruster1488 vainful1509 frustrate?a1513 superfluousa1533 addle1534 lost1535 fittle1552 futilea1575 nugatory1605 futilous1607 shiftless1613 tympanous1625 emptya1628 frustraneousa1643 pointless1673 futilitous1765 otiose1795 stultificatory1931 1534 (?a1500) Shearmen & Taylors' Pageant 863 in H. Craig Two Coventry Corpus Christi Plays (1931) 30 (MED) Sytt he neyuer soo hy in saddull, But I schall make his braynis addull, And here with my pott-ladull With hym woll I fyght. 1602 T. Fitzherbert Apol. 15 Your owne imagination, which was no lesse Idle, then your head was addle all that day. 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. iv. i. ii. 737 Their braines were addle, and their bellies as emptie of meate, as their heads of wit. 1690 J. Dryden Don Sebastian Prol. 24 Thus far the Poet, but his brains grow Addle; And all the rest is purely from this Noddle. a1797 E. Burke Thoughts on Scarcity (1800) 48 The brains of the people growing more and more addle with every sort of visionary speculation. 1803 G. Huddesford Bonaparte xiv. 22 The Monsieurs all strove, By their shouting, to prove That their lungs were as sound as their brains they were addle. a1891 J. R. Lowell Uncoll. Poems (1950) 65 A King's whole outfit was, years back, A people and a saddle; Enough if he could spur and whack, Although his brains were addle. 2006 E. A. St. Amant Five Days of Eternity x. 101 He was addle and corpulent. b. attributive. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [adjective] redelessOE mopishc1300 tottedc1500 addle1534 muddy?1571 addle1576 foggya1591 foggy-brained1594 addled1599 addle-headed1600 bezzled1604 addle-pated1614 addle-brained1619 buzzle-headeda1644 puzzle-headed1729 puzzle-pated1736 muddle-headed1760 ramble-headeda1761 hulver-headed1785 ramfeezled1786 muddled1790 hoddy-doddya1798 muzzy-headed1798 bother-headed1820 muddle-pated1823 pixilated1848 woolly1864 bungle-headed1865 mixed1880 muddlesome1887 wifty1918 woozy1941 spastic1981 1576 T. Newton tr. L. Lemnie Touchstone of Complexions Ep. Ded. sig. ❧5^v I haue done my beste, trusting that others..wil not..misconstrue my meaning, which was in plain tearmes and vulgare phrase to goe as neere to my Authours plotforme, as my adle head could well imagine. 1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie iii. viii. 144 Concerning his preaching, their very byword was, Λόγος ἐξουθενημένος, Addle speech, Emptie talke. 1614 J. Syvester tr. H. Smith Micro-Cosmo-Graphia 271 in Parl. of Vertues Sodaine Qualm, or sullen Care, Or addle Fit of idle Feare. c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) v. 1836 Thus they drink round, Vntill their adle heads doe make the ground Seeme blew vnto them. a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) i. xi. §2. 113 The corrupt fancies of their owne addle heads. 1632 Lyly's Endimion (new ed.) iv. iii, in Sixe Court Comedies sig. E4 Till sleepe has rock'd his addle head. 1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 59 Somewhat that is the fondling of our addle brains. 1693 W. Robertson Phraseologia Generalis (new ed.) 1333 I wish him an ounce more wit in his addle head. 1705 J. Vanbrugh Confederacy v. 69 If you, with your addle Head, don't know your own Jewels, I with my solid one do. 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Addle, Empty or rotten; properly spoken of an Egg, and figuratively apply'd to a Hair-brain'd, Empty scull'd Fellow. 1779 Patriotic Perfidy 19 His addle brain to load with state affairs. 1806 R. Fellowes tr. J. Milton Second Def. in C. Symmons Prose Wks. John Milton VI. 372 The shell was no sooner broken than they loathed the addle and putrid contents. 1806 R. Fellowes tr. J. Milton Second Def. in C. Symmons Prose Wks. John Milton VI. 378 That tiresome and addle epistle which follows. 1851 C. Kingsley Let. in Life (1879) I. ix. 237 The barbarians..got into their addle pates that we were emissaries of Mazzini and Co. distributing political tracts. 1953 H. Cantarella tr. G. Salvemini Prelude to World War II (1954) ii. xxv. 211 MacDonald's addle-pate had become ‘more a liability than an asset’ and he was transferred to the office of Lord President of the Council, Stanley Baldwin assuming the premiership. 3. English regional (chiefly south-eastern). In a poor condition; weak; ill. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased untrumc825 sickc888 unwholec888 slackc897 unstronga900 sicklea1000 sam-halea1023 worseOE attaint1303 languishinga1325 heallessc1374 sicklyc1374 sicklewa1387 bada1393 mishalea1400 languoring?c1425 distempered1440 unwell?c1450 detent?a1475 poora1475 languorousc1475 maladif1481 illa1500 maladiousc1500 wanthriven1508 attainted1509 unsound1513 acrazed1521 cracked1527 unsoundya1529 visited1537 infirmed1552 crazed1555 healthless1568 ill-liking1572 afflicted1574 crazy1576 unhealthful1580 sickish1581 valetudinary1581 not well1587 fainty1590 ill-disposed1596 unhealthsome1598 tainted1600 ill-affected1604 peaking1611 unhealthy1611 infirmited1616 disaffected1626 physical1633 illish1637 pimping1640 invalid1642 misaffected1645 valetudinarious1648 unhale1653 badly1654 unwholesome1655 valetudinous1655 morbulent1656 off the hooksa1658 mawkish1668 morbid1668 unthriven1680 unsane1690 ailing1716 not wellish1737 underlya1742 poorly1750 indifferent1753 comical1755 maladized1790 sober1808 sickened1815 broken-down1816 peaky1821 poorlyish1827 souffrante1827 run-down1831 sicklied1835 addle1844 shaky1844 mean1845 dauncy1846 stricken1846 peakyish1853 po'ly1860 pindling1861 rough1882 rocky1883 suffering1885 wabbit1895 icky-boo1920 like death warmed up1924 icky1938 ropy1945 crappy1956 hanging1971 sick as a parrot1982 shite1987 1844 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words (1846) I Adle, Unsound, unwell, East. 1875 W. D. Parish Dict. Sussex Dial. (1957) 2/1 My little girl seemed rather adle this morning, so I kep' her at home from school. 1876 G. L. Gower Surrey Provincialisms (English Dialect Society no.12. Series C: Original glossaries) Adle,..weak, shaky; said of a fence the posts of which have become loose. Compounds addle-brain n. = addle-head n. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > confused, muddled person > [noun] mafflardc1450 juffler15.. dromedary1567 madbrain1570 batie buma1586 addle-head1592 blunderkin1596 nit1598 addle-pate1601 hash1655 blunderbuss1692 blunderhead1692 shaffles1703 fog-pate1732 blunderer1741 puzzle-pate1761 slouch1767 étourdi1768 botch1769 puddle1782 bumble1789 scatter-brain1790 addle-brain1799 puzzle-head1815 shaffler1828 chowderhead1833 muddlehead1833 muddler1833 flounderer1836 duffer1842 muddle-pate1844 plug1848 incompetent1866 schlemiel1868 dinlo1873 drumble-dore1881 hodmandod1881 dub1887 prune1895 foozler1896 bollock1916 messer1926 Pilot Officer (also P.O.) Prune1942 spaz1965 spastic1981 1799 C. T. Smith What is She? v. iii. 81 There's that addle-brain, Lord Orton, in love with you. 1880 B. Disraeli Endymion I. viii. 71 ‘Never mind Lord Waverly and such addle~brains,’ said Zenobia. 1991 Sunday Mail (Queensland) (Nexis) 3 Feb. Ada, an addle-brain who thinks she can fly. addle-brained adj. (a) (of a person) having a supposedly addled or diminished brain; lacking clear or rational thought; muddled; stupid; (b) (of an action, scheme, etc.) motivated or characterized by incorrect or irrational thinking; unsound; ridiculous. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [adjective] redelessOE mopishc1300 tottedc1500 addle1534 muddy?1571 addle1576 foggya1591 foggy-brained1594 addled1599 addle-headed1600 bezzled1604 addle-pated1614 addle-brained1619 buzzle-headeda1644 puzzle-headed1729 puzzle-pated1736 muddle-headed1760 ramble-headeda1761 hulver-headed1785 ramfeezled1786 muddled1790 hoddy-doddya1798 muzzy-headed1798 bother-headed1820 muddle-pated1823 pixilated1848 woolly1864 bungle-headed1865 mixed1880 muddlesome1887 wifty1918 woozy1941 spastic1981 1619 T. Gataker Of Nature & Use Lots xii. 343 They are not such as haue any diuine Art or skill at all with them: but are either superstitious Wisards, or blinde Buzards, or idle-headed, or adle-brained, or arrant Beggars. 1770 T. Bridges Adventures of Bank-note I. xiii. 119 You see how many addle-brained fellows are every day running about the streets. 1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic III. iv. v. 100 The addle-brained Oberstein had confessed..the enormous blunder which he had committed. 1991 Independent 5 Jan. 22/1 The film is openly addle-brained:..reducing the Indo-China war to juvenile noise and slapstick. addle egg n. an egg that is addled. [See discussion in etymology section.] ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > egg > [noun] > type of addle eggc1275 goose-eggc1394 wind-egg1398 pigeon's egg1651 the world > food and drink > food > eggs > [noun] > bad egg addle eggc1275 rotten egg1536 c1275Adel eye [see sense B. 1]. a1333 Gloss. W. de Bibbesworth (BL Add.) (1929) 72 Des oefes le donez germéez Non pas que sunt esterguléz, adely [prob. read adel ey]. a1475 in F. J. Furnivall Jyl of Breyntford's Test. (1871) 32 (MED) He is lyke..A sory laueroke satt on brode Opon two adyll eggis. 1567 A. Nowell Confut. Dormans Disproufe f. 428^v Hatched vs out such a sorte of goodlie decrees, woorse than addle egges. 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. ii. 128 Pan. Hee esteemes her no more then I esteeme an addle egge: Cres. If you loue an addle egge as well as you loue an idle head you would eate chickens ith shell. View more context for this quotation 1667 Third Advice in Second & Third Advice to Painter 18 Alas, even they (though shell'd in trebble Oak) Will prove an Addle-egg with double Yoalk. 1766 Willoughby in T. Pennant Brit. Zool. ii. 62 Upon which lay one young one, and an addle egg. 1840 T. P. Thompson Exercises (1842) V. 191 Why must the 130 millions which are involved in railways be an addle egg? 1992 Summary of World Broadcasts Pt. 3: Far East (BBC) 9 Dec. FE/1559/A2/ 1 They threw addle eggs at the building of the ‘American Cultural Centre’ and scattered handbills demanding the pullout of the US forces. addle-head n. a person whose mind is (supposedly) addled; a stupid or contemptible person. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > confused, muddled person > [noun] mafflardc1450 juffler15.. dromedary1567 madbrain1570 batie buma1586 addle-head1592 blunderkin1596 nit1598 addle-pate1601 hash1655 blunderbuss1692 blunderhead1692 shaffles1703 fog-pate1732 blunderer1741 puzzle-pate1761 slouch1767 étourdi1768 botch1769 puddle1782 bumble1789 scatter-brain1790 addle-brain1799 puzzle-head1815 shaffler1828 chowderhead1833 muddlehead1833 muddler1833 flounderer1836 duffer1842 muddle-pate1844 plug1848 incompetent1866 schlemiel1868 dinlo1873 drumble-dore1881 hodmandod1881 dub1887 prune1895 foozler1896 bollock1916 messer1926 Pilot Officer (also P.O.) Prune1942 spaz1965 spastic1981 1592 B. Rich Aduentures Brusanus ii. x. 81 Grosse questions are to be answered with slender reasons, and adle heads should be scoffed at with idle answeres. 1641 ‘Smectymnuus’ Vindic. Answer Hvmble Remonstr. §16.205 Call them if you will, Popish fooles, and addleheads. 1956 S. O'Casey Green Crow 201 His [sc. Bernard Shaw's] reception of Brahms as a musical prodigy, but, compared with his great predecessors, an addlehead, is still resented by the old brahmins. addle-headed adj. = addle-brained adj. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [adjective] redelessOE mopishc1300 tottedc1500 addle1534 muddy?1571 addle1576 foggya1591 foggy-brained1594 addled1599 addle-headed1600 bezzled1604 addle-pated1614 addle-brained1619 buzzle-headeda1644 puzzle-headed1729 puzzle-pated1736 muddle-headed1760 ramble-headeda1761 hulver-headed1785 ramfeezled1786 muddled1790 hoddy-doddya1798 muzzy-headed1798 bother-headed1820 muddle-pated1823 pixilated1848 woolly1864 bungle-headed1865 mixed1880 muddlesome1887 wifty1918 woozy1941 spastic1981 1600 N. Breton Pasquils Fooles-cap (rev. ed.) sig. C^v Hee that doth studie twentie things at once, And hath intent for to performe them all: And yet his beetle addle-headed skonce, In full conclusion can doe none at all. 1735 ‘R. Nab’ Addr. Batchelors Great Brit. 47 If he must either have his Ears fill'd with..a sage Curtain-lecture, or addle-headed Bed-roll on Caudles and Confections, o' my Conscience he'd better tend a Dung-cart. 1848 C. Dickens Let. 27 Nov. (1981) V. 448 I am quite addle-headed for the time being. 1978 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 29 Mar. They..claimed it would be absolutely addle-headed to allow another taxi fare increase in this town at this time. 2003 M. H. Kramer Quality of Freedom v. 385 Our efforts..will be like the efforts of astronomers who are so addle-headed as to measure distances between galaxies in inches. addle-headedness n. the state, condition, or fact of being addle-headed; stupidity. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > [noun] unwisdomc825 unredeeOE egedec1175 unwitc1175 unwisdomnessa1200 dusileca1225 dusischipa1225 folly?c1225 kangschipe?c1225 unwitshipa1250 unwisenessa1340 cornardy1340 unwithead1340 lewdness1362 nicetyc1380 sotie1390 folitya1400 follinessa1400 foolheada1400 insipiencec1422 fondnessa1425 wanwita1425 cocardyc1430 foltry1440 jopperyc1440 folliheada1450 fonning?a1475 niceheada1475 foltheadc1475 folabilitya1529 daftness1552 foolageness1563 foppery1592 guckry1596 senselessness1606 coxcombry1608 goosery1642 ineptitude1656 fopicalness1660 fopperishness1683 insagacity1808 spoonery1824 spooniness1824 noodleism1830 addle-headedness1835 foolishment1852 insapiency1876 ineptness1877 goosiness1888 inepticality1923 sappiness1943 gormlessness1958 the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [noun] fogginess1648 unconnectedness1772 puzzle-patedness1799 botherheadedness1814 muzziness1814 addlement1825 addle-headedness1835 muddleheadedness1839 woolliness1856 puzzleheadedness1858 harl1889 wooziness1924 1835 T. P. Thompson in Westm. Rev. Jan. 263 Calculate the addle-headedness of such inveterate old women, as should go about recommending to try Juno for dry nurse. 1957 Fresno (Calif.) Bee 22 Aug. 5 c/1 To expose phony pretence and addleheadedness in however high places. 2001 Afr. Amer. Rev. 35 326 Slaves Today and Black No More complicate the attack on racialism by considering specific aspects of period addleheadedness. † addle parliament n. Obsolete = Addled Parliament n. at addled adj. Compounds. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > a particular English or British parliament > specific great Parliamentc1450 Good Parliament1580 addle parliament1614 giunto1641 junto1641 Unlearned Parliament1643 Long Parliament1646 rump?1653 Short Parliament1653 lay Parliament1655 Barebone's Parliament1657 Rump Parliament1659 Little Parliamenta1675 Long Parliament1678 Pensioner Parliament1678 Pensioned Parliament1681 Bluestocking Parliamenta1683 Pension Parliament1682 Pensionary Parliament1690 marvellous Parliament?1706 rumple1725 lack-learning Parliament1765 unreported Parliament1839 Cavalier Parliament1849 Addled Parliament1857 merciless Parliament1875 wonderful Parliament1878 nominated Parliament1898 1614 T. Lorkin Let. 18 June in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1849) (modernized text) I. 323 The parliament is dissolved, without the ratification of so much as any one act;..thereby rendering it, as they term it here, an addle parliament. 1825 J. Lingard Hist. Eng. (ed. 2) IX. ii. 150 In the quaint language of the time this was called the addle parliament. addle-pate n. = addle-head n. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > person of weak intellect > confused, muddled person > [noun] mafflardc1450 juffler15.. dromedary1567 madbrain1570 batie buma1586 addle-head1592 blunderkin1596 nit1598 addle-pate1601 hash1655 blunderbuss1692 blunderhead1692 shaffles1703 fog-pate1732 blunderer1741 puzzle-pate1761 slouch1767 étourdi1768 botch1769 puddle1782 bumble1789 scatter-brain1790 addle-brain1799 puzzle-head1815 shaffler1828 chowderhead1833 muddlehead1833 muddler1833 flounderer1836 duffer1842 muddle-pate1844 plug1848 incompetent1866 schlemiel1868 dinlo1873 drumble-dore1881 hodmandod1881 dub1887 prune1895 foozler1896 bollock1916 messer1926 Pilot Officer (also P.O.) Prune1942 spaz1965 spastic1981 1601 A. Munday & H. Chettle Death Earle of Huntington sig. A2 I & my mates, like addle-pates, inuiting great States, to see our last play. 1769 A. Machay Pasquin II. 232 But pray which is he most, A silly fellow, or an addle-pate? 1849 D. M. Mulock Ogilvies I. xviii. 290 It is quite too overpowering for such addle-pates as this gentleman and myself. 1993 J. Kalb in J. McAuliffe Plays, Movies & Critics 275 If addlepates like Jürgen..defect from the program, that only proves their fundamental indifference to the world's horrible social inequities and dominant metanarratives. addle-pated adj. = addle-brained adj. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > confusion, muddle-headedness > [adjective] redelessOE mopishc1300 tottedc1500 addle1534 muddy?1571 addle1576 foggya1591 foggy-brained1594 addled1599 addle-headed1600 bezzled1604 addle-pated1614 addle-brained1619 buzzle-headeda1644 puzzle-headed1729 puzzle-pated1736 muddle-headed1760 ramble-headeda1761 hulver-headed1785 ramfeezled1786 muddled1790 hoddy-doddya1798 muzzy-headed1798 bother-headed1820 muddle-pated1823 pixilated1848 woolly1864 bungle-headed1865 mixed1880 muddlesome1887 wifty1918 woozy1941 spastic1981 1614 J. Taylor Nipping of Abuses sig. D^v Let euery Idle adle-pated gull With stinking sweet Tobacco stuffe his skull. 1864 Mattie III. 212 Two weak addle-pated mortals, only fitted for each other. 1954 M. Wheeler Archaeol. from Earth xi. 150 Almost every gang of them [sc. British workmen] contains..one addle-pated gossip, who must be isolated and extinguished at once, or the good men will rapidly deteriorate. 2008 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 8 June r7 Many lonely young people turned to comics in the 1970s and '80s..for the crazy, addlepated ads in the back. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022). addlev.¹ Brit. /ˈadl/, U.S. /ˈæd(ə)l/ Forms: Middle English addill, Middle English adill, Middle English adyl, Middle English adyll, Middle English 1600s addle, Middle English–1500s adle, 1500s addil, 1800s eddle (Scottish); English regional 1600s– adle, 1700s– addle, 1800s aadle, 1800s– adel, 1800s– aidle, 1800s– aydle, 1800s– eddil (northern), 1800s– eddle (northern), 1800s– yeddle (Cheshire). Origin: A borrowing from early Scandinavian. Etymology: < early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic ǫðla (reflexive) to acquire property for oneself < óðal property: see udal n.). English regional (chiefly northern). 1. transitive. To earn (money, etc.). Also in early use: †to deserve (punishment, etc.); to merit (spiritual reward, etc.) (obsolete). ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] wieldeOE haveeOE ofgoOE oweOE addlec1175 winc1175 avela1200 to come by ——a1225 covera1250 oughtc1275 reachc1275 hentc1300 purchasec1300 to come to ——c1330 getc1330 pickc1330 chevise1340 fang1340 umbracec1350 chacche1362 perceivea1382 accroacha1393 achievea1393 to come at ——a1393 areach1393 recovera1398 encroach?a1400 chevec1400 enquilec1400 obtainc1422 recurec1425 to take upc1425 acquirea1450 encheve1470 sortise1474 conques?a1500 tain1501 report1508 conquest1513 possess1526 compare1532 cough1550 coff1559 fall1568 reap1581 acquist1592 accrue1594 appurchasec1600 recoil1632 to get at ——1666 to come into ——1672 rise1754 net1765 to fall in for1788 to scare up1846 access1953 c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 6235 Heore leȝhe birrþ hemm beon Rædiȝ þann itt iss addledd. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 16102 Hemm addlenn swa þe maste wa. Þatt aniȝ mann maȝȝ addlenn. R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 19 (MED) We may se, smell, fele & touch, & ȝit we adyll no mede nor vnmede. ?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 1 To Adyll, commereri, mereri, Adipisci, Adquirere. a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xxiii. 290 If thou be kyng we shall thank adyll, For we shall sett the in thy sadyll. a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 234 (MED) He has adyld his ded..let me gyrd of his hede! 1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Kiv ^v/1 To Addil, demerere. 1616 J. Deacon Tobacco Tortured 70 Although they addle much wages, or receiue large reuenewes, yet shall they but purse vp the same in a bottomlesse bag. 1673 J. Ray N. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 2 To Adle or Addle; to Earn. 1680 Trial T. Thwing & M. Pressicks in T. B. Howell State Trials (1816) VII. 1169 He would give me more than I could addle (that is, earn) in seven years. 1789 W. Bentley Hist. Town & Parish Halifax 78 Addle, to get or earn. 1792 T. Holcroft Anna St. Ives I. xvi. 189 And what diddee ever do for me? Diddee ever addle half an ounce in your life without being well ribb rostit? 1865 J. Harland Lancs. Lyrics 76 He says he's addled fifty pund, An bowt a kist an' clock. 1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. 131 He's never addled owt sin. 1928 F. M. Ford Last Post ii. iv. 276 He wished that Christopher would get rid of his Jewish partner so as to addle a little brass. 1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill ii. 54 Jim Brunskill were a grand fellow, too, and he did right to take your mother off, for nobody here could addle a decent Pay. 1997 W. Rollinson Dict. Cumbrian Dial. 1/1 Is tha addling owt much? 2. intransitive. Of a plant, etc.: to produce seed or fruit; to thrive. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by good growth > grow well or flourish [verb (intransitive)] > grow well or flourish growc725 thrivec1175 flourish1303 provec1330 encrec1420 delighta1475 prosper1535 addle1570 fortify1605 ramp1607 luxuriate1621 succeed1812 1570 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandry (new ed.) f. 19 Where Iuie embraceth the tree very sore, kill Iuie, or tree else will adle no more. 1865 Cornhill Mag. July 31 Crops..in Westmoreland, when they ripen well, are said to ‘addle well’, as if a notion of working and earning were implied. 1999 R. Malster Mardler's Compan. 7/1 A field of corn which is looking well and promising to ripen well is said to addle. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021). addlev.² Brit. /ˈadl/, U.S. /ˈæd(ə)l/ Forms: 1600s adle, 1600s– addle. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: addle adj. Etymology: < addle adj. Compare earlier addled adj.Slightly earlier currency is perhaps implied by addling n.² 1. a. transitive. To make (a person's brain, etc.) confused or lose the ability to think clearly; to muddle; (also) to prevent (an action, etc.) from succeeding; to spoil (rare). Also with with. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > cause or effect (harm) [verb (transitive)] > do harm or injury to > affect detrimentally atterc885 hurtc1200 marc1225 appair1297 impair1297 spilla1300 emblemishc1384 endull1395 blemishc1430 depaira1460 depravea1533 deform1533 envenom1533 vitiate1534 quail1551 impeach1563 subvert1565 craze1573 taint1573 spoil1578 endamage1579 qualify1584 stain1584 crack1590 ravish1594 interess1598 invitiate1598 corrupt1602 venom1621 depauperate1623 detriment1623 flaw1623 embase1625 ungold1637 murder1644 refract1646 depress1647 addle1652 sweal1655 butcher1659 shade1813 mess1823 puckeroo1840 untone1861 blue1880 queer1884 dick1972 forgar- the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > act of perplexing > confuse, perplex, bewilder [verb (transitive)] abobc1330 confusec1350 confoundc1374 cumbera1375 passc1384 maskerc1400 mopc1425 enose1430 manga1450 overmusec1460 perplex1477 maze1482 enmuse1502 ruffle?a1505 unsteady1532 entangle1540 duddle1548 intricate1548 distraught1579 distract1582 mizzle1583 moider1587 amuse1595 mist1598 bepuzzle1599 gravel1601 plunder1601 puzzle1603 intrigue1612 vexa1613 metagrobolize?a1616 befumea1618 fuddle1617 crucify1621 bumfiddlea1625 implicate1625 giddify1628 wilder1642 buzzlea1644 empuzzle1646 dunce1649 addle1652 meander1652 emberlucock1653 flounder1654 study1654 disorient1655 embarrass?1656 essome1660 embrangle1664 jumble1668 dunt1672 muse1673 clutter1685 emblustricate1693 fluster1720 disorientate1728 obfuscate1729 fickle1736 flustrate1797 unharmonize1797 mystify1806 maffle1811 boggle1835 unballast1836 stomber1841 throw1844 serpentine1850 unbalance1856 tickle1865 fog1872 bumfuzzle1878 wander1897 to put off1909 defeat1914 dither1919 befuddle1926 ungear1931 to screw up1941 1652 Total Rout in Commw. Ball. (Percy Soc.) 133 With dammees and rammees you addle his brains. 1680 T. Otway Hist. Caius Marius ii. 17 One Bottle to his Lady's health quite addles him. 1708 E. Ward Mod. World Disrob'd i. 7 She's so heavily concern'd at the Wickedness of others, that she addles her Brains, by shaking her Noddle at the Sins of her Neighbours. 1781 W. F. Mavor Cheltenham Guide i. 13 Roger at Bath has so addled her brain, I'm afraid she will never her senses regain. 1841 C. Dickens Let. 26 Feb. (1969) II. 220 I have addled my head with writing all day. 1878 R. Simpson School of Shakspere I. 97 His cold procrastination addled the victory of Lepanto, as it had formerly addled that of St. Quentin. 1904 C. Marriott Genevra vi. 106 Addling their brains with plum trash about love and all. 1971 H. S. Thompson Let. 15 June in Fear & Loathing in Amer. (2000) 408 If there's anything in this letter that addles or disturbs your thinking, you should get your reply off at once. 1999 D. Morrissey Kit's Law iii. 38 There was a stink of spirits comin' off him that could've addled the heads of a cackle of saints. b. intransitive. Of the brain, etc.: to become muddled or unsound. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > wander in thought [verb (intransitive)] > of the mind: be confused addle1664 spin1819 1664 W. Killigrew Pandora ii. 33 Only some fumes from his heart Madam, makes his head addle. Tis call'd the Spleen of late, and much in fashion. 1746 Exmoor Scolding (ed. 3) i. 7 Chell make thy Yead addle. 1807 C. I. M. Dibdin Mirth & Metre 30 Then mind..how you rock the cradle;..If once too much, its brains, you know, will addle. 1883 Tinsley's Mag. Aug. 113 The other thing analyses, and criticises, and synthesises, and so forth until your brains addle. 2003 Guardian (Nexis) 5 Apr. 27 As Maria's celebrity grows, her body shrinks and her mind addles, until she has dwindled to an anorexic five stone. 2. a. intransitive. Of an egg: to become rotten; to fail to produce a chick; to rot, to putrefy. Also figurative. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > worse > [verb (intransitive)] worseeOE aswindc885 worsena1250 appair1340 impair1340 fainta1375 pairc1390 vade1471 decay1511 decline1530 degenerate1545 lapse1641 addle1654 sunset1656 deteriorate1758 worst1781 descend1829 disimprove1846 slush1882 devolute1893 worser1894 the world > food and drink > food > eggs > [verb (intransitive)] > go bad addle1654 1654 J. Hall Of Govt. & Obed. iv. 443 This Spirit is..a substance which is neither suffered to addle through cold, nor harden through heat. 1712 W. Rogers Cruising Voy. 276 They found the [turtle's] Eggs addled in less than 12 Hours, and in about 12 more they had young ones in 'em, compleatly shap'd, and alive. 1792 W. Osbaldiston Brit. Sportsman 108/2 The eggs, which hens lay without being trod must not be hatched, for they will addle. 1809 W. Combe Schoolmaster's Tour in Poet. Mag. Nov. 198 Tho' his courage 'gan to addle, He still stuck close unto his saddle. a1856 H. Miller Testimony of Rocks (1857) viii. 337 For in still water, however pure, the eggs in a few weeks addle and die. 1945 Folk-lore 56 290 A hen must have thirteen eggs to sit upon, or she will be unlucky; if she has thirteen she will then hatch twelve chickens and one egg will addle. 1996 B. E. Beans Eagle's Plume (1997) v. 82 The extremely hot and dry weather of 1949 and 1950 had caused the eggs to addle. b. transitive. To cause (an egg) to become rotten; to subject (an egg) to some external influence such that it fails to produce a chick. ΚΠ 1834 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Islands II. 271 Those hens which do not perform that operation [sc. rolling the eggs] so diligently, are incapable of hatching a numerous brood without addling some of the eggs. 1899 Country Life Illustr. 3 June 701/2 Grouse are prone to nest in spots that heavy rain-storms may altogether put under water for some days, either drowning the young birds or addling the eggs. 1932 Classical Weekly 2 May 200/2 We are told by Aristotle that thunder during incubation addles eggs. 1962 Cumberland (Maryland) Evening Times 30 July 4/6 The Senator's lady was afraid that vibrations of the air conditioner would addle the eggs. 2009 S. Nicholls Paradise Found vi. 101 The Maryland Department of Natural Resources came up with a plan that combined addling mute swan eggs with shooting adults. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.adj.OEv.¹c1175v.²1652
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addlen.adj.

Compounds

addlev.1

addlev.2

addlev.¹

addlev.²