Tittivil

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a frivolous chatterer who spreads idle talk ; a small imp believed to gather up the careless words and scraps of speech
2. A flighty, gossiping person of little substance ; a minor devil in old folklore said to carry off the idle chatter of monks
3. An old word for a silly, prattling busybody ; a petty demon once thought to snatch up wasted words and trifling talk

Etymology: Medieval scribes blamed a minor demon, Titivillus, for the errors that crept into their copying. According to clerical writers, he gathered up the syllables, words and phrases that careless copyists skipped or garbled and carried them off in a sack as evidence against them. His name gave English a word for something trivial: "tittivil" came to mean a trifle, a scrap of nothing, and also idle chatter. The English word descends directly from the demon's name, and its sense follows his habit. He collected only the leftovers, the small details that seemed to matter least, so the word came to name exactly those things. The origin of the Latin name itself is uncertain, and no one has settled on a convincing source for it.