idle

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Not being used or not working at the moment.

   The machines sat idle during the strike.

2. 2
   adj

   Not doing any work; lazy or unoccupied.

   He spent the idle summer days lying in the garden.

3. 3
   adj

   Without serious purpose; trivial.

   It was just idle gossip, so don't worry about it.

From Middle English idel, ydel, from Old English īdel, from Proto-West Germanic *īdal, from Proto-Germanic *īdalaz. Cognate with Dutch ijdel (“vain, meaningless”), ijl (“rareified, skinny”), iel (“thin, slender”); German Low German iedel (“vain, idle”); German eitel (“vain, conceited”); and possibly Old Norse illr ("bad"; > English ill).

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