doodle

Meaning

Verb

1. (ambitransitive) To draw or scribble aimlessly.
2. (intransitive) To engage in something non-seriously; fiddle.
3. (Scotland) To drone like a bagpipe.

Noun

1. (obsolete) A fool, a simpleton, a mindless person.
2. A small mindless sketch, etc.
3. (childish, slang, sometimes) The penis.

Noun

Any crossbreed of a poodle with a different breed of dog.

Synonyms

scribble

scrabble

scrawl

jot

jot down

pen

🖊️

blockhead

scribbling

squiggle

scratch

cacography

dolt

Translations

gribouiller

griffonner

kritzeln

gribouillis

garabatear

Gekritzel

griffonnage

karalama

garabato

borrajear

garrapatear

scarabocchiare

σχεδιάζω αφηρημένα

γράφω αφηρημένα

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈduːdl̩/

Etymology

Cognate with German: dudeln

In summary

Originally dialectal, from Low German dudeldopp (“simpleton”). Influenced by dawdle. Compare also German dudeln (“to play (the bagpipe)”).
The word doodle first appeared in the early 17th century to mean a fool or simpleton. German variants of the etymon include Dudeltopf, Dudentopf, Dudenkopf, Dude and Dödel. American English dude may be a derivation of doodle.
The meaning "fool, simpleton" is intended in the song title "Yankee Doodle", originally sung by British colonial troops prior to the American Revolutionary War. This is also the origin of the early eighteenth century verb to doodle, meaning "to swindle or to make a fool of". The modern meaning emerged in the 1930s either from this meaning or from the verb "to dawdle", which since the seventeenth century has had the meaning of wasting time or being lazy.