The c-spelling in Nominale suggests that the word may be a variant of DMF grailler (‘Émettre un cri rauque, coasser’), although verb is generally used with reference to the sound produced by birds. The t-spelling, which is clearly found in the Bibbesworth manuscript tradition, may be a further corruption of the form (through c and t confusion by the original scribes). However, it is possible that this verb, solely used for the sound produced by badgers, derives from an entirely different, but unidentified, etymon or that it is simply onomatopoeic.