Pebble – A Small Word with a Weathered History

These galets in a Breton chocolaterie — smooth, hand-moulded chocolates named after the French word for ‘pebble’.

The English pebble has its own well-worn path. First recorded in Middle English as peble, pebul or pepill, it’s likely a diminutive of an older root peb, simply meaning ‘stone’. The -el ending, like in sparkle or trickle, adds the sense of smallness.

But the origin of peb is harder to pin down. It may be imitative — echoing the sound of stones jostling together — or related to Dutch and Low German words for gravel.