fimble

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪmbəl/

Etymology 1

From a dialectal variant of fumble.

Verb

fimble (third-person singular simple present fimbles, present participle fimbling, simple past and past participle fimbled)

1. (intransitive, dialectal) To fumble; do (anything) imperfectly or irresolutely.

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch femele, fimele (“cannabis brevior”), from fimelen (“to tease: flax, hemp, wool, etc.; to move quickly, fiddle, play, trifle”) (whence Dutch fijmelen, femelen), related to Middle Low German fimmelen, fimmeren (“to grope about”), German fimmeln (“to grope; fumble”), West Frisian fimelje (“to pick; fiddle' trifle”), English fimble (“to fumble”). Alternatively, it is sometimes suggested that Middle Dutch femele is from French chanvre) femelle (“female (hemp)”), which was applied to the male hemp plant as it is smaller and was therefore believed to be female; this would parallel the old designation of the larger, female plant as carl-hemp (“man-hemp”).

Noun

fimble (plural fimbles)

1. The male hemp plant.

Alternative forms

• femble

Further reading

• Joseph Wright, editor (1900), “FEMBLE”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volume II (D–G), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC.

See also

• fimble-famble

Anagrams

• libfem, fem lib, befilm