Waffle
/ˈwɒf.əl/noun
A crisp batter cake cooked in a patterned iron; also, to speak or write in a vague or evasive way.
Did you know?The word comes through Dutch/Low German forms tied to a “honeycomb” or “woven” pattern, and its modern verb sense developed later from the idea of moving back and forth indecisively.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*webʰ-
“to weave, to plait”
Old English
OE
wefan
“to weave”
Middle Dutch
MDu
wafel
“a wafer or honeycomb-like cake”
Middle Low German
MLG
wafel
“a wafer, honeycomb pattern”
Late Middle English
English
waffle
“a wafer-like cake”
19th Century
English
waffle
“to talk or write at length in a vague, evasive way”