From en.wiktionary.org:
** English
*** Pronunciation
- [en]
- [en]
- [en]
- [en]
- [en]
*** Etymology 1
From [en] (attested in present participle [enm]), from [en], from [dum], [dum]
(Modern [nl]). [en]. Compare [de].
**** Verb
[en-verb]
1. To mix together, to mix up ; to confuse .
2. * [en]
3. To mash slightly for use in a cocktail .
4. To dabble in mud.
5. * C. 1721-1722 , [Jonathan Swift] , _The Progress of Marriage_
6. *: Young ducklings foster'd by a hen; <br> But, when let out, they run and MUDDLE
7. To make turbid or muddy.
8. * [passage=He did ill to MUDDLE the Water.]
9. To think and act in a confused, aimless way.
10. To cloud or stupefy; to render stupid with liquor; to intoxicate partially.
11. * [passage=Their old master Epicurus seems to have had his brains so MUDDLED and confounded with them, that he scarce ever kept in the right way.]
12. * [year=1733]
13. To waste or misuse, as one does who is stupid or intoxicated.
14. * [en]
***** Derived terms
{{col3|en |muddle along |muddled#Adjective<pos:adj> |muddlement|muddle the
waters |muddler |muddlesome|muddle on |muddle through |muddle up }}
***** Translations
[mix together, to mix up; to confuse]
- Bulgarian: [bg]
- Czech: [cs] , [cs] , [cs] , [cs] , [cs] , [cs]
- Dutch: [nl] , [nl]
- Finnish: [fi] , [fi]
- French: [fr] , [fr] , [fr] , [fr]
- Galician: [gl]
- German: [de]
- Greek: [el] , [el]
- Hungarian: [hu] , [hu] , [hu]
- Ido: [io]
- Italian: [it] , [it] , [it] , [it] , [it] , [it] , [it]
- Occitan: [oc] , [oc] , [oc]
- Portuguese: [pt]
- Romanian: [ro] , [ro] , [ro]
- Russian: [ru] , [ru]
- Scottish Gaelic: [gd]
- Spanish: [es] , [es] , [es] , [es]
[trans-bottom]
[mash for a cocktail]
- Bulgarian: [bg]
- Galician: [gl]
- Spanish: [es]
[trans-bottom]
[to make turbid or muddy]
- Czech: [cs] , [cs] , [cs]
- Hungarian: [hu]
[trans-bottom]
[to cloud or stupefy; to render stupid with liquor; to intoxicate partially]
- Hungarian: [hu] , [hu]
[trans-bottom]
[to waste or misuse, as one does who is stupid or intoxicated]
- Hungarian: [hu] , [hu] , [hu]
[trans-bottom]
**** Noun
[en-noun]
1. A mixture ; a confusion ; a garble .
2. * [en]
3. [en] A mixture of crushed ingredients, as prepared with a muddler .
4. [en] A muddy mess .
5. * {{ quote-book | en | year=1851 | year_published=1861 | author=w:Henry Mayhew
|title=w:London Labour and the London Poor |passage=I must drive as quick with
a thunder-rain pelting in my face, and the roads in a MUDDLE, and the horses
starting—I can’t call it shying, I have ’em too well in hand,—at every flash,
just as quick as if it was a fine hard road, and fine weather.}}
***** Derived terms
- [en]
***** Related terms
- [en]
***** Translations
[a mixture; a confusion; a garble]
- Arabic: [ar] , [ar]
- Bulgarian: [bg]
- Czech: [cs] , [cs] , [cs] , [cs]
- Dutch: [nl] , [nl]
- Finnish: [fi] , [fi]
- French: [fr] , [fr] , [fr]
- German: [de]
- Hungarian: [hu] , [hu] , [hu] , [hu]
- Italian: [it] , [it] , [it] , [it] , [it] , [it]
- Occitan: [oc] , [oc] , [oc] , [oc] , [oc] , [oc]
- Russian: [ru]
- Spanish: [es]
- Swedish: [sv] , [sv] , [sv]
[trans-bottom]
*** Etymology 2
**** Noun
[en-noun]
1. [en] A servant 's attendant ; underservant .
2. * {{ quote-text | en | year=1985 | author=Lizzie Hessel; Ann Brown; Anne Rose | title=Lizzie: A Victorian Lady's Amazon Adventure | page=132
|passage=We bought a few rugs and odds and ends and our sitting room looks
quite European; then we have a bedroom with 2 beds and a dressing room, also a
corridor for the MUDDLES and servants.}}
1. * {{ quote-text | en | year=2022 | author=Carl Thompson; Katrina O'Loughlin; Éadaoin Agnew | title=Women's Travel Writings in India 1777–1854 | page=201
|passage=I have an ayah (or lady's maid), and a tailor (for the ayahs cannot
work); and A—84 has a boy: also two MUDDLES—one to sweep my room, and another
to bring water.}}
***** References
- [R:Hobson-Jobson]
[en]