Quibble
early 17th century (in the sense ‘play on words, pun’): diminutive of obsolete quib ‘a petty objection’, probably from Latin quibus, dative and ablative plural of qui, quae, quod ‘who, what, which’, frequently used in legal documents and so associated with subtle distinctions or verbal niceties.
wiktionary
quib + -le. Quib is probably from Latin quibus(“in what respect? how?”), which appeared frequently in legal documents [1] and came to be suggestive of the verbosity and petty argumentation found therein.
etymonline
quibble (n.)
1610s, "a pun, a play on words," probably a diminutive of obsolete quib "evasion of a point at issue" (1540s), which is based on Latin quibus? "by what (things)?" Its extensive use in legal writing supposedly gave it the association with trivial argument: "a word of frequent occurrence in legal documents ... hence associated with the 'quirks and quillets' of the law." [OED].
Latin quibus is dative or ablative plural of quid "in what respect? to what extent?; how? why?," neuter of relative pronoun quis (from PIE root *kwo-, stem of relative and interrogative pronouns).
quibble (v.)
"equivocate, evade the point, trifle in an argument or discourse, turn from the point in question or the plain truth," 1650s, from quibble (n.). Earlier "to pun" (1620s). Related: Quibbled; quibbler; quibbling.
