babbling
noun, adjective, verb
babbling is spelled B-A-B-B-L-I-N-G: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, babbling means “a stage in child language acquisition, during which an infant appears to be experimenting with uttering sounds of language, but not yet producing any…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of babbling is babblings.
How many letters and syllables are in babbling?
| Letters | 8: B-A-B-B-L-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,912th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is babbling?
Babbling appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce babbling?
Babbling has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What rhymes with babbling?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as babbling.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: blabbing.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of babbling
- babblings plural
- more babbling comparative
- most babbling superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does babbling mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
a stage in child language acquisition, during which an infant appears to be experimenting with uttering sounds of language, but not yet producing any recognizable words
- 2
sounds produced by infant during the babbling period
- 3
Idle senseless talk; prattle.
- 4
A confused murmur, as of a stream.
adjective
- 1
That babbles.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of babble
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Babbling in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense sounds produced by infant during the babbling period:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | balbutiement |
| Spanish | balbuceo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does babbling come from?
From Middle English bablyng, babelynge, equivalent to babble + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).