Capitalized, Flibbertigibbet, according to
Webster 1979, is the name of
the devil. The same source notes that it is "
obsolete."
In
lower case, it can refer to:
- an imp; one who looks impish
- a person who chatters constantly
- an irresponsible, flighty person
"
Flibbertigibbet is from
Middle English flipergebet, which is probably an imitation of the sound of meaningless chatter. The word originally meant a
gossip or
chatterbox, but it soon took on the idea of a light-minded or frivolous person, especially a
pert young woman with such qualities. Flibbertigibbet was also the name of an
imp or demon; it appears in a list of 40 fiends in a book by
Samuel Harsnet, and also in
Shakespeare."*
let's add what Webster 1913 left out
*from dictionary.com