Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - garble

 I. transitive verb  (~d; garbling)  Etymology: Middle English garbelen, from Old Italian garbellare to sift, from Arabic gharbala, from Late Latin cribellare, from cribellum sieve; akin to Latin cernere to sift — more at certain  Date: 15th century  1. archaic cull 1  2. to sift impurities from  3.  a. to so alter or distort as to create a wrong impression or change the meaning ~ a story  b. to introduce textual error into (a message) by inaccurate encipherment, transmission, or decipherment  • ~r noun  II. noun  Date: 1502  1. the impurities removed from spices in sifting  2. an act or an instance of garbling