Meaning

noun the state of an engine or other mechanism that is idling

verb run disconnected or idle

verb be idle; exist in a changeless situation

originFrom 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).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0