- quibble (n.)
- 1610s, "a pun, a play on words," probably a diminutive of quib "evasion of point at issue" (c.1550); that word's overuse in legal jargon supposedly gave it the association with trivial argument. Meaning "equivocation, evasion of the point" is attested from 1660s.
- quibble (v.)
- "equivocate, evade the point," 1650s, from quibble (n.). Related: Quibbled; quibbling.