pamper
verbUK /ˈpæm.pə(ɹ)/ · US /ˈpæm.pɚ/
Etymology From Middle English pamperen (“to cram with food”), from Middle Dutch *pamperen (“to cram with food”), frequentative of *pampen (“to stuff”), from Proto-Germanic *pamp- (“to swell”), from Proto-Indo-European *bamb- (“round object”), equivalent to pamp + -er. Cognate with West Flemish pamperen (“to cram with food, overindulge”), Middle Low German pampen (“to stuff oneself”), dialectal German pampfen (“to cram”), dialectal Danish pampe (“to boast, brag”).
1
To treat with excessive care, attention or indulgence.
- And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
2
Dated To feed luxuriously.
3
Informal To put someone in pampers (a diaper).