waffle

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• Canadian, Received-Pronunciation, Standard: /ˈwɒf.əl/
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• Canadian, Received-Pronunciation, Standard: [wɒf.əl] ~ [wɒf.l̩]
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• General-American: /ˈwɑf.əl/
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• General-American: [wɑf.əl] ~ [wɑf.l̩]
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• California: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• Australian: /ˈwɔf.əl/
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• Australian: [wɔf.əl] ~ [wɔf.l̩]
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• rhymes with -ɒfəl
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• CMU ARPABET: W AA1 F AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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The noun is borrowed from Dutch wafel (“waffle; wafer”), from Middle Dutch wafel, wafele, wavel, from Old Dutch *wāvila, from Proto-Germanic *wēbilǭ, *wēbilō, possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *webh- (“to braid, weave”) (whence Dutch weven (“to weave”) and English weave; compare, from the same verbal root, German Wabe (“honeycomb”), given that the grid pattern of the traditional Dutch lent and holiday pastry strikingly resembles a honeycomb), and possibly reinforced by German Waffel (“waffle; wafer”). The English word is a doublet of wafer and gauffre. The verb (“to smash”) derives from the manner in which batter is pressed into the shape of a waffle between the two halves of a waffle iron.

The verb is borrowed from Scots waffle (“to waver, flap, flutter”), from waff (“to wag, wave; to flap, flutter”) + -le (diminutive or frequentative suffix), from Middle Scots waff (“signal; gust of wind; glimpse; a flapping, waving”), from Northern Middle English wafe, waffe, a variant of waven (“to move to and fro, sway; to stray, wander; (figuratively) to follow a weaving course; (figuratively) to vacillate, waver; to move something to and fro, wave”) (whence wave), from Old English wafian (“to wave”), from Proto-Germanic *wabōną, *wabjaną (“to sway; to wander”), from Proto-Indo-European *webh- (“to braid, weave”). Regarding sense 5 (“to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point”), compare Old English wæflian (“to talk foolishly”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Germanic *babalōną (“to babble, chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhā- (“to say”) and/or Proto-Indo-European *baba- (“to talk vaguely; to mumble”). The Oxford English Dictionary does not derive the English word waffle from this Old English word. Compare also Dutch wauwelen (“to linger, waffle, jabber, gab, chat”). The noun is derived from the verb.

Possibly from waff (“(dialectal) to bark, woof”) (imitative of a dog’s yelp) + -le (diminutive or frequentative suffix).

107 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: وَافِل (wāfil) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Armenian: վաֆլի (vafli) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Belarusian: ва́фля (váflja) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Bulgarian: гофрѐта (gofrèta) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Catalan: gofra — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Chinese Cantonese: 格仔餅 /格仔饼 (gaak3 zai2 beng2) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Chinese Mandarin: 華夫 /华夫 (huáfū) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Chinese Mandarin: 窩夫 /窝夫 (wōfū) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Chinese Mandarin: 鬆餅 /松饼 (sōngbǐng) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Czech: vafle — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Danish: vaffel — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Dutch: wafel — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Esperanto: vaflo — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Estonian: vahvel — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Finnish: vohveli — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• French: gaufre — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• German: Waffel — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Greek: βάφλα (váfla) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Hungarian: gofri — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Icelandic: vaffla — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Ido: vaflo — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Indonesian: wafel — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Irish: vaiféal — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Italian: ferratella — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Japanese: ワッフル (waffuru) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Khmer: នំពុម្ព (num pum) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Korean: 와플 (wapeul) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Latvian: vafele — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Luxembourgish: Eisekuch — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Luxembourgish: Gaufre — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Macedonian: вафла (vafla) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Malay: wafel — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Norwegian Bokmål: vaffel — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Norwegian Nynorsk: vaffel — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Plautdietsch: Wofel — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Polish: gofr — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Portuguese: waffle — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Portuguese: gofre — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Russian: ва́фля (váflja) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Serbo-Croatian: vafl — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Spanish: waffle — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Spanish: wafle — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Spanish: gofre — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Spanish: guafle — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Swedish: våffla — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Ukrainian: ва́фля (váflja) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Walloon: wåfe — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Welsh: waffl — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Yiddish: וואַפֿליע (vaflye) — flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern
• Bulgarian: картофена гофрета (kartofena gofreta) — savoury flat potato cake with the same kind of grid pattern
• Bulgarian: шикалкавене (šikalkavene) — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Dutch: gezwam — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Dutch: wollige taal — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Estonian: loba — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Finnish: jaaritus — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Finnish: jaarittelu — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• French: langue de bois — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Galician: palla — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• German: Geschwafel — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• German: leere Phrasen — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Hungarian: halandzsa — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Hungarian: mellébeszélés — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Hungarian: szövegelés — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Hungarian: süketelés — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Hungarian: duma — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Hungarian: rizsa — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Hungarian: sóder — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Hungarian: hanta — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Icelandic: bull — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Icelandic: þvaður — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Japanese: むだ口 (mudaguchi) — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Korean: 거만한 말 (geomanhan mal) — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Māori: waha hakirara — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Polish: wodolejstwo — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Portuguese: palrança — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Portuguese: palração — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Portuguese: palha — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Welsh: waffl — (often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious
• Bulgarian: шикалкавя (šikalkavja) — to speak or write evasively or vaguely
• Dutch: zwetsen — to speak or write evasively or vaguely
• German: schwafeln — to speak or write evasively or vaguely
• Hindi: डगमगाना (ḍagamgānā) — to speak or write evasively or vaguely
• Māori: hākirikiri — to speak or write evasively or vaguely
• Māori: waha hakirara — to speak or write evasively or vaguely
• Welsh: wafflo — to speak or write evasively or vaguely
• Bulgarian: тътря се (tǎtrja se) — of an aircraft or motor vehicle: to travel in a slow and unhurried manner
• German: gemächlich dahingleiten — of an aircraft or motor vehicle: to travel in a slow and unhurried manner
• Bulgarian: бъбря (bǎbrja) — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Bulgarian: ломотя (lomotja) — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Dutch: zwammen — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• German: schwafeln — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Hindi: हड़बड़ाना (haṛabṛānā) — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Hungarian: halandzsázik — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Hungarian: szövegel — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Hungarian: mellébeszél — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Hungarian: rizsázik — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Hungarian: rizsál — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Hungarian: süketel — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Hungarian: nyomja a sódert — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Hungarian: hantázik — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Italian: blaterare ciarlare cianciare — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Japanese: ごちゃごちゃ言う (gochagocha iu) — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Portuguese: palrar — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Russian: лить во́ду (litʹ vódu) — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Russian: болта́ть по́пусту (boltátʹ pópustu) — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Russian: трепа́ться без то́лку (trepátʹsja bez tólku) — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble
• Spanish: divagar — to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point — see also ramble