Definition of bobble

The origin of the word "bobble" can be traced back to the Middle English verb "bobben," meaning "to move up and down." This verb, in turn, can be traced to the Old English verb "bobbian," which referred to the motion of something waving back and forth. The use of "bobble" to describe the small, rounded object atop a hat can be traced back to the early 20th century. It is believed that the word was adopted from the Scottish Gaelic "bumal," which also referred to a small, round object. The first recorded use of "bobble" in this context appears in the November 1, 1921, issue of the American journal Science and Invention, where it was used to describe the "bobble" on top of a chimney. However, by the following year, the word was being used to refer to the small, round objects atop hats, most likely due to the resemblance between the two. In British English, "bobble" is sometimes substituted with "tam o'shanter" or "mountie ball," while in American English, alternatives include "poem" or "pom." Regardless of the preferred term, the origins of these words all stem from the ancient Anglo-Saxon roots of "bobben" and "bobbian."