Garbler
/ˈɡɑːr.blər/noun
A person or thing that garbles, distorts, or renders something difficult to understand.
Did you know?The verb garble originally described merchants sorting or removing impurities from spices, especially in Mediterranean trade, before it came to mean distorting speech.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Latin
Latin
cribellum
“A small sieve or strainer; a diminutive of cribrum, “sieve.””
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
ġirbāl
“A sieve or a process of sifting; often identified as the source of the later Mediterranean trade term.”
13th–14th Century
Italian
garbellare
“To sift, cleanse, or sort merchandise, especially spices.”
14th–15th Century
Old French
garbel
“The act of sifting or sorting; also the duty or inspection associated with such goods.”
Late 15th Century
English
garble
“To sift, select, or remove impurities from goods.”
16th–17th Century
English
garble
“To distort, mutilate, or confuse words and statements.”
Modern English
English
garbler
“One who or that which garbles—scrambling, distorting, or obscuring meaning.”
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