ψελλίζω,
(ψελλός) falter in speech, speak inarticulately, like a child, ψ. καὶ τραυλίζουσι [[ 4th c.BC: Aristoteles Philosophus “Historia Animalium” 536b8 ] Refs 4th c.BC+]:—so in middle, [[ 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Gorgias” 485b, 485c ] Refs 5th c.BC+]; ψελλίζονται καὶ τραυλίζουσι (-ονται Bonitz), τοῦτο δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἔνδεια τῶν γραμμάτων [[ 4th c.BC: Aristoteles Philosophus “de Partibus Animalium” 660a26; ψελλιζόμενος τὴν Ἑλλάδα φωνήν 3rd c.AD: Heliodorus Scriptor Eroticus 8.15 ] Refs 4th c.BC+]: metaphorically, of Empedocles and the early philosophers, speak indistinctly, ἃ ψελλίζεται λέγων Ἐμπεδοκλῆς [[ 4th c.BC: Aristoteles Philosophus “Metaphysica” 985a5; ψελλιζομένῃ ἔοικεν ἡ πρώτη φιλοσοφία περὶ πάντων [prev. work] 993a15 ] Refs 4th c.BC+]; of metals, hesitate to alloy, [[ [prev. author] “GC” 328b9 ] Refs]:—active is later in this sense, used of Aristotle, [[ 1st c.BC: Philodemus Gadarensis Epigrammaticus “Rh.” 2.51S. ] Refs 1st c.BC+]
__2 metaphorically, ψελλιζόμενος ἐς τὰ πολεμικά, of a boy soldier, [[ 2nd-3rd c.AD: Philostratus Sophista “Heroicus” 19.2. ] Refs 2nd c.AD+]