Riffle
/ˈrɪf.əl/noun
To move, mix, or turn through quickly in a loose, fluttering way; also, to make a light, rippling disturbance.
Did you know?Riffle is historically tied to the idea of a small ripple or roughness, and that same root family shows up in words for wrinkling and rippling textures across Germanic languages.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*wrib- / *wrub-
“to twist, turn, or make uneven”
Old English
OE
hriflan
“to wrinkle or roughen”
Middle English
ME
riflen
“to turn over quickly; to move lightly or in a rippling way”
16th–17th Century
English
riffle
“to ripple, ruffle, or disturb lightly”
Modern English
English
riffle
“to flip through something quickly; to cause a slight ripple or disturbance”