dribble

Dribble comes from the English word drib plus the suffix -le, which was added to verbs to show repeated or ongoing action. Drib itself traces back through Middle English -len, Old English -lian, and Proto-Germanic *-lōną, the suffix that gave English this small-action ending.

The facts show no recorded shift in meaning beyond its formation — drib meant a small drop or trickle, and adding the frequentative -le simply turned that single drop into a repeated, ongoing action.

Dribble is built the same way many English 'frequentative' verbs are, using the same -le ending traced back to Proto-Germanic *-lōną, though no specific cognate word is given in the facts.