Where does “bumbling” come from?
Bumbling derives from the English verb bumble, which comes from the English noun boom, tracing back through alternating English and Dutch forms of boom.
bumbling (English): present participle of bumble; The act of one who...
Definitions
- present participle of bumble; The act of one who...
Ancestry of “bumbling”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | bumble | A confusion; a jumble; To act in an inept, clumsy... |
| 2 | English | bum | The buttocks; The anus; To sodomize; to engage in... |
| 3 | German | Bummler | stroller; laggard; idler, loafer |
| 4 | German | -er | Forms agent nouns etc. from verbs, suffixed to... |
| 5 | Old High German | -āri | used to form agent nouns |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | -ārī | -er |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -ārijaz | -er |
| 8 | Latin | -ārius | er |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | *-āzios | Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals) |