garble

Where does the word "garble" come from? It comes from Arabic gharbala, passing through Medieval Latin and Anglo-French before entering English (1400s).

Garble’s story begins in Arabic: gharbala meant “to sift or sort.” From Arabic 'ghirbal', sieve; merchants 'garbled' spices to remove impurities. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Medieval Latin as garbellare. Carried into Mediterranean trade vocabulary for sifting or sorting goods. From there it passed into Anglo-French as garbeler by medieval. Carried into Anglo-French for inspecting and sifting spices and drugs. It reached English by 1400s as garble. Shifted from careful sorting to mean confused, jumbled mixing. Today, garble means to distort or confuse a message so it is misunderstood.

1. Stage 1 · Arabic · medieval gharbala "to sift or sort", from Arabic 'ghirbal', sieve; merchants 'garbled' spices to remove impurities.
2. Stage 2 · Medieval Latin · medieval garbellare "to sift goods for quality", carried into Mediterranean trade vocabulary for sifting or sorting goods.
3. Stage 3 · Anglo-French · medieval garbeler "to sift goods for quality", carried into Anglo-French for inspecting and sifting spices and drugs.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1400s garble "to jumble or distort a message", shifted from careful sorting to mean confused, jumbled mixing.