(probably a blend of two different words, an' old French baubel, a child's plaything, and an old English babyll, something swinging to and fro), a word applied to a stick with a weight attached, used in weighing, to a child's toy, and especially to the mock symbol of office carried by a court jester, a baton terminating in a figure of Folly with cap and bells, and sometimes having a bladder fastened to the other end; hence a term for any triviality or childish folly.